Mar 12, 20162 min read

"There's Something I Must Tell You" Exhibition

I recently designed an educational resource for the iziko Museums of South Africa Slave Lodge. It serves as a catalogue and worksheet for this Sue Williamson exhibition about influential South African women.

"‘There’s something I must tell you’ is an exhibition over five galleries that was held at the Iziko Slave Lodge. It showed work done by South African artist Sue Williamson over a period of over 30 years, from 1981 to 2013. At the beginning of this period, the country was experiencing some of the harshest years of apartheid."

Design

To add interest to the open space, and to have unique elements in this publication, I illustrated simple stencil style drawings of a few of these iconic women. I used them for the cover as well as the title pages of the different series. I used hand written letters (which were part of the exhibition) as backgrounds to the images and their details for extra subtle detail to some pages.

Nokukhanya Luthuli 1904-1996

Helen Joseph

1905-1982

Amina Cachalia

1930-2013

Case no. 6831/211984

Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela-Mandela (Winnie Mandela)

1936-

Colours

I used a soft, warm, neutral peachy-cream palette. It reminds me of a warm welcoming home of a mother or grandmother. Of how influential and strong leading woman are while they convey a gentle and welcoming presence because of their nurturing and caring nature. In my life, the family leaders are all women. It's a different kind of leadership; there is no power struggle because for women it's not really about power – it's about family, the community and putting others before yourself. No show boating or beating of chests, no displays of dominance, just the pure drive to do what is best for those you care about. So that's why I chose this colour palette.