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As part of our efforts to make the CCAC more accessible, and in celebration of International Human Rights Day (10 December), we are freely releasing Light on a Hill: Building the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Published in 2006 by the Constitutional Court Trust, the book is an exploration of the world-renowned architectural representation of South Africa's constitutional democracy. Find the PDF here.
You can also look forward to the launch of our new collection management system (CMS), that will offer public access to all artworks in the CCAC. We're working hard to get it ready for sharing in 2023. Along with our CMS launch, we'll also be offering open access to another CCT publication, Art and Justice: The Art of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, while we continue to expand on the understanding of the CCAC through our Art & Justice short monograph series.
If you haven't yet, take a look at the virtual tour of the Constitutional Court, including the public exhibition areas, that we produced earlier this year.
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The glass wall: a conservation milestone
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We recently reached a major milestone in the safe display of the CCAC, as part of our conservation work over the past couple of years. After much consultation, the installation of a "glass wall" at the bottom end of the Court's public exhibition gallery was completed this December. The open roof courtyard left the public gallery susceptible to humidity and temperature fluctuations. The glass wall now offers a more stable environment to exhibit the CCAC, along with other conservation interventions, while still giving access to the courtyard. To enable the installation, Willem Boshoff's Prison Sentences was de-installed; the eight granite slabs have been cleaned and are in the process of being put back up. The project was funded by the Mellon Foundation with support by the Ford Foundation.
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Kay-Leigh Fisher, assistant curator, presenting an Art & Justice tour in November. The tour group stands beneath a canopy of trees depicted by Walter Oltmann's Wire Chandeliers and Jane du Rand's Pillar Mosaics in the court foyer.
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The CCAC curatorial team presents monthly Art & Justice tours of the art on public display in the Constitutional Court building. Tours are presented on the second and last Saturday of every month from 09:30 to 11:15 and are limited to 12 people. See our website for the first of 2023's tour dates. Spots are limited and booked in advance; reserve yours by emailing ccac@concourttrust.org.za. Tours are presented free of charge although online donations are encouraged. For more information, visit our website.
We also offer a limited number of educational and corporate tours in the public areas of the Constitutional Court on a quarterly basis during workdays - please contact us if you would like to enquire about booking such a tour.
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One of the Keiskamma Our South Africa tapestries by the Keiskamma artist collective that was donated to the CCAC.
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The CCAC is built on the generosity of artists, galleries and other benefactors who have donated artworks to be displayed in the Constitutional Court.
We're excited about the recent artwork donations to the CCAC that were accepted by our Artworks Committee. An edition of the Keiskamma Our South Africa Tapestries triptych was donated in October by the Keiskamma Trust. The tapestries are a visual exploration of the foundational values of the Constitution: human dignity, equality and freedom, while speaking to the CCAC's role as a visual interface for the law. The tapestry series will be exhibited in the public gallery in 2023. The works were produced by the artists Zukiswa Zita, Nomgcobo Nompunga, Setyenzwa Mangwane, Anelisa Nyongo, Phumza Magoswana, Ncomeka Gedze, Nombulelo Paliso, Bonelwa Paliso, Nozibele Nxadi, Nosiphiwo Mangwane, Veronica Betani, Thembisa Gusha, and Cebo Mvubu.
For more information on artwork donations, visit our website.
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Gille de Vlieg photographed with her recent donation titled Meeting under a tree to discuss possible forced removals, Ntombi's Camp, KwaZulu Natal, 1988.
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In early November, the curatorial team was visited by Gille de Vlieg, a renowned photographer and activist, to see her recent donation to the CCAC on display in the public gallery. The photograph, which depicts the concept of "justice under a tree", is exhibited in relation to the Commemorating Sophiatown print portfolio and Larry Scully's Destruction of District Six, speaking to urban and rural forced removals, and homeland incorporation, across South Africa during the 1980s.
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Emma Prior, graduate intern, cleaned and fed Azwifarwi Ragimana's Yacoob's Bench in November 2022 as part of the curatorial team's annual woodwork conservation. Jaco Sieberhagen's Judge and John Baloyi's Godzilla were also treated.
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Emma Prior working on the in-house conservation treatments of Pitika Ntuli's Makhosi and Victor Gordon's Essential Arch Bull as part of the graduate internship programme.
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Our conservation work is generously funded by the Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
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Since July 2019, the Constitutional Court Trust has run a curatorial internship programme for recent South African graduates with an interest in visual art and justice. The programme allows graduates to work closely with the CCAC curators for six months and to gain experience in art administration, curatorship, cataloguing, research and conservation. As part of a pilot programme, we also offer successful interns the opportunity to extend their time working on the CCAC between 6-12 months as an assistant curator. Pictured below is Kay-Leigh Fisher (assistant curator) and Emma Prior (curatorial intern). Our eighth intern will join the team in January.
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