NEW: Bob Gosani: Dolly Rathebe at Durban beach (1955, for Drum Magazine)

It is our pleasure to announce that Bob Gosani's photograph Dolly Rathebe at Durban beach (1955, for Drum Magazine) has been added to the UCT Works of Art Collection. This recent acquisition will enrich our African Modern Art collection.

Drum Magazine was established in March 1951 and primarily targeted black readers. The editorials, news articles, and reportage reflected the vibrancy and nuance of black aspirations, struggles, and life and culture. “Cultures”, as Stuart Hall points out, “do not exist outside of how they are represented”, and Drum played a significant role for a generation of black creative practitioners who shaped the way Black people were represented in society.

This portrait – the cover of the July 1955 edition of Drum Magazine – depicts black seaside leisure, black cosmopolitan life.

Read the think piece: 
Dolly Rathebe photographed by Bob Gosani, at the Durban beach – July 1955 for Drum Magazine
by Luvuyo Equiano Nyawose

In the following months, the Works of Art Committee will be introducing new acquisitions. We have invited art writers to produce short reflections on a particular artwork, which will be published on our website, so stay tuned for more.