Sue WilliamsonA Few South Africans: Albertina Sisulu, 1983
In 1982, Sue Williamson spent much of her time in Crossroads, an informal Cape Town community marked for destruction by the apartheid state. She was working with residents on strategies to oppose the demolitions. It was there that she first encountered the image of Elizabeth Paul – a Xhosa faith healer whose faded photo adorned the walls in many homes. This repetition marked Elizabeth as an important figure in the community.
Williamson began a series of photo-etched portraits with screen-printed frames, with the first in the series, a portrait of Elizabeth Paul. Each was a tribute to a woman who inspired others through her leadership, often in the struggle for liberation: Helen Joseph, Winnie Mandela, Annie Silinga, Mamphela Ramphele. Their names are familiar today, but in the 1980s they were largely invisible. Williamson’s work sought to give them visibility, and to honour them.
Her influences were many. Renaissance portraiture offered structure; the inventive frames of Crossroads homes provided texture. But more than technique, it was the desire to make these women known that shaped the work. In mass- producing and distributing postcard versions of the portraits, Williamson made the series portable, ensuring that these stories could travel, unbound by gallery walls.
Albertina Sisulu, a prominent anti-apartheid activist and nurse, and the wife of Albert Sisulu, led a life restricted by imprisonments and banning orders after her husband was jailed in 1964, but still organized protests and supported families affected by apartheid. She was a founding member of the United Democratic Front in 1983. Sisulu’s leadership was crucial in the fight for racial equality and she continued to play an important role in post-apartheid South Africa, representing the ANC in parliament.
