Created by
Cowans, Adger W., American, born 1936
Subject of
AfriCOBRA, founded 1968
Date
1983
Medium
printing ink on rag paper
Dimensions
H x W (Sheet): 44 1/4 × 29 7/8 in. (112.4 × 75.9 cm)
H x W (Image): 30 1/8 × 22 1/2 in. (76.5 × 57.2 cm)
H x W (Impression): 33 1/8 × 23 7/8 in. (84.1 × 60.6 cm)
Caption
Adger Cowans is a member of AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists), a collective dedicated to creating positive and culturally relevant art for African Americans and other Africans in the diaspora. In 1977 the group created and exhibited a series of artworks in protest of the 1976 massacre of hundreds of high school students in Soweto, South Africa. Police officers attacked the students while they peacefully protested the mandatory replacement of native tongues with Afrikaans and English as the primary instructional languages.
In 1980 Cowans created SOWETO, an etching made after his original 1977 painting of the same name. He incorporated the phrase “SO WE TO” to represent the unified struggle of human beings, over time and place, against the forces of racism and oppression.
Description
A black and white print made from a copper plate etching. The print is of an abstracted face rendered through a multitude of finely etched diagonal and horizontal black lines. The eyes are depicted by thin slits, the nose is depicted by a vertical line with two oval-shaped nostrils, and the mouth is depicted by an "o" shape. Along the bottom edge of the image, below the figure's chin, letters in Serif-style font spell [ SO WE TO]. Below the image, the artist has hand-written the edition number at left, the print titled in the middle, and his signature and date on the right.
Place depicted
Soweto, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, Africa
Classification
Visual Arts
Movement
Anti-apartheid movements
Type
etchings
Topic
Africa
Art
Resistance
Violence
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2013.146.1
Restrictions & Rights
© Adger Cowans
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5d3b57d4d-5275-4a23-9799-2dd53d2a6d60

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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