Liese van der Watt | We the People. 30 Years of Art and Democracy in South Africa

Art and politics go hand in hand. This is simply a fact.

This is particularly the case in South Africa, a country that whose art history is deeply intwined with the fight for equility and justice. From artists like Jane Alexander, whose anthropomorphic sculptures embodied the horrors of reality under Apartheid for Black South Africans, to the photography of David Goldblatt, Ernest Cole and many more, who documented the truths of what the Aparthied government was doing. These works have shaped our artworld and our country, and in the still relatively new democracy of South Africa, many artists continue to relfect current politics in their work.

In We, the People, Liese van der Watt catalogues and creates a timeline of art and democracy over 30 years. Breaking the book into four sections, van der Watt explores ideas around the need and desire To Belong, To Protest, To Care and To Be Heard.

The book is largley based on the exhibition of the same name heald at the Norval Foundation in Cape Town in December 2024 to November 2025, though it is not a catalgoue, but rather an extension. the author explains in her forward that

My aim with writing art history has always been to open up, rather than closing off, and I hope that this publication goes some way towards bringing more people into the fold of contemporary South African art and art from the rest of Africa (van der Watt 2026: 7)

At the end of the day, this book is a perfect starting point for any interested in learning more about not only South Africa’s history, but also it contemporary art world.