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Exhibition: Pro Gallery
AN EYE FOR FREEDOM
PHOTOGRAPHS
BY GILLE DE VLIEG
Exhibition: Text
Exhibition: Pro Gallery
In 1982, Gille de Vlieg became a member of the anti-apartheid women’s organization, the Black Sash, in Johannesburg.
She participated in, and photographed, Black Sash protest ‘stands’, which entailed standing in public places holding signs and posters opposing the apartheid state, and she participated in campaigns against forced removals.
During the course of her activist work, de Vlieg took photographs to record what she saw, and to serve as evidence of the effects of violence to which she was witness.
Exhibition: Text
Exhibition: Pro Gallery
Exhibition: Pro Gallery
In 1984, Paul Weinberg, documentary photographer and co-founder of the Afrapix photography collective, invited de Vlieg to join the organization. Her photographs were included in books and exhibitions and formed part of the weekly packages Afrapix sent overseas to draw attention to the struggle against apartheid.
Exhibition: Text
Exhibition: Pro Gallery
As well as being active within Black Sash, de Vlieg was invited into Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, by Greg Thulare, the Congress of South African Students’ (COSAS) Tembisa organiser, in August 1984. This gave her insight into the political and social lives of activists and other members of this community.
It was in Tembisa that she met Debora Marakalala, an anti-apartheid activist.
Debora describes Gille as an ‘adopted daughter of Tembisa’.
In the videos that follow, Debora speaks about her life as an activist in the 1980s and reflects on several photographs made by Gille, including photographs of her mother, trade unionist, Rosina Marakalala.
Exhibition: Text
Exhibition: Pro Gallery