Who is Conrad Botes?

Conrad Botes is an artist who elicits strong opinions.
Conrad Botes is an artist who elicits strong opinions.
Picture courtesy of Conrad Botes.

 

At an exhibition some time ago, one reviewer concluded that Conrad Botes was the spawn of Satan, while another thought he was a prophet.

Conrad Botes studied graphic design and illustration at the University of Stellenbosch. There he met Anton Kannemeyer, and together they founded the magazine Bitterkomix in 1992.

"His biting satire, frequently directed at South African society, politics and religion, is channelled into both his painting and printmaking," says his Cape Town gallerist, Michael Stevenson.

Botes and Kannemeyer continue to publish their work in Bitterkomix, and regularly exhibit in South Africa and Europe.

In 2004 Botes won the Absa l'Atelier award and in 2006 he showed at the 9th Havana Biennale in Cuba. Recent group exhibitions include Africa Comics at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, and Turbulence at Hangar-7 in Salzburg, Austria. His work was also included in Apartheid: The South African Mirror, which opened at the Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona in September 2007.

back to the The Purple Shall Govern memorial page

"Why are they taking over our city? This is our city."
The Purple Shall Govern
The Purple March
Picture: © Obed Zilwa, Trace Images

IN THE CLASSROOM

In this lesson plan, learners will be able to compare personal accounts with a more detached report of the same incident.

Lesson plan (1.96MB)
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The Purple March - September 2, 1989
Very few photographs of the Purple March survived the police crackdown on the media at the demonstration.
The Purple Shall Govern - A highlight in a low time
A selection of images of the Heritage Project’s memorial to the Purple Shall Govern march.
Audio of The Purple March by people who were there.
Listen to accounts of the Purple March by people who were there, including Philip Ivey, the young protester who turned the jet of purple dye on the police.
Panorama
360° virtual tour of the memorial at the corner of Burg and Church Streets, Cape Town.
The day The Purple governed Cape Town
In September 1989, during a protest march in Cape Town, police turned a water-cannon filled with purple dye on the demonstrators in an attempt to make it easier to arrest them. But one brave man, Philip Ivey, hijacked one of the cannons and turned the lur