Norman Kaplan: All Shall Be Afforded Dignity! OXFORD – 24th June to 21st July, 2025.
‘Norman Kaplan: All Shall be Afforded Dignity!’
This display of artwork marks 30 years since the first democratic elections in South Africa. Norman Kaplan’s linocuts and prints speak to what life was like under the apartheid regime and remind us of the enduring relationship between art and protest.
‘All Shall Be Afforded Dignity!’ is curated around the work (of the same name) that artist Norman Kaplan made in 1996 in response to a call for art to celebrate the Constitution of the new democratic South Africa. More information about the exhibition organisers, Anti-Apartheid Legacy, Action for Southern Africa and The Anti-Apartheid Movement Archives below.
His linocut, All shall Be Afforded Dignity, was awarded the first prize honour and is engraved into a window in South Africa’s Constitutional Court, on permanent display.
Through sharing the linocuts as well as political and satirical cartoons made by Kaplan, during a career that spans apartheid South Africa, exile in the UK, and the hopes of post-liberation South Africa, this exhibition weaves a narrative that explores the interconnected themes of dignity, democracy, and the enduring human spirit. For an online showcase of the works visit https://antiapartheidlegacy.org.uk/resources/exhibitions/asbad/
24th to 30th June
Ovada
The Warehouse
14A Osney Lane (off Woodbine Place),
Oxford, OX1 1NJ
Free admission
Every day, 10am – 5pm
Access and directions:
For more information please visit the Ovada website
2nd to 21st July
Cowley Library
Temple Road
Cowley
Oxford, OX4 2EZ
Free admission
Mon – Wed and Fri- Sat
Access, directions and opening hours:
For more information please visit the Cowley Library Website
For an online viewing of Norman Kaplan’s work visit the showcase on our website.
Mandela – Message from Robben Island
Linocut on Paper
Norman Kaplan, 1986
In 1986, images of Nelson Mandela were still banned in apartheid South Africa, and the country was in the grip of the latest ‘State of Emergency’ declared by apartheid-era president Botha to counter the actions of liberation forces across the country. Pass laws were relaxed due to international condemnation, but apartheid laws remained repressive. Kaplan’s print quotes from Nelson Mandela’s speech to the apartheid court when he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964, and from the slogans of the mass uprising against apartheid that was taking place during the 1980s.
In 1990, after 27 years in an apartheid prison, Mandela was released unconditionally, and in 1993 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In May 1994 he was inaugurated as South Africa’s first democratically elected President. He declared he would serve only one term, and five years later he stepped aside. He died at home in December 2013.
This exhibition is part of the UK wide commemorative programme, marking 30 years of democracy in South Africa. It is convened by Action for Southern Africa and Anti-Apartheid Legacy: Centre of Memory and Learning; with the Anti-Apartheid Movement Archives and ACTSA Scotland, in partnership with the South African High Commission to the UK & Northern Ireland.
“All shall be afforded dignity” is our theme for the programme. It is both commemorative and a call to action for the future.
Our aim is to draw on the spirit of the 1994 election year, where hope with action were the key ingredients to achieving a new dawn for South Africa and for the world. More information about the 30 years anniversary commemorative programme here .
