GARETH VAN ONSELEN: The Spear: A timeline of intolerance
Gareth van Onselen recalls the fortnight when SA foreclosed on free speech
This month it will be five years since The Spear, the Brett Murray painting of Jacob Zuma, was destroyed after the ANC drove the county into an unconstitutional moral panic. The repertoire it established has since become a template for much subsequent outrage and intolerance of freedom of speech. So it is worth revisiting the events of May 2012 and recall how things unfolded; there are many contemporary lessons to be found in the story. Thursday, May 10: • As part of Brett Murray’s Hail to the Thief II exhibition, a painting titled The Spear, depicting President Jacob Zuma standing in a Lenin-like pose with his phallus exposed, goes on display at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg. It is based on Viktor Ivanov’s iconic image of Lenin, and follows a similar exhibition in Cape Town that passed without controversy. The exhibition is scheduled to run until June 16. Sunday, May 13: • City Press newspaper carries a review of the exhibition, including a photograph of The Spear. It is repo...
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