Colour these Workers Sold Out. 1974–5. - Gavin Jantjes. Tate Collection. “Colour these Workers Sold
Colour these Workers Sold Out. 1974–5. - Gavin Jantjes. Tate Collection. “Colour these Workers Sold Out, … presents the issue of exploitation through the use of cheap African labour on the mines from which white South Africa derived its wealth. The print is based on a photograph by Cole of a group of migrant workers – four men and a woman – who stand waiting, possibly for transport somewhere as is suggested by the suitcase one of them carries. Their tatty clothes and the blankets they wear like coats indicate their poverty. During the apartheid years South Africa gained enormous economic power from its gold mining operations in and around Johannesburg, a city established at the turn of the nineteenth century as a result of the developing mines. A small print attached to the top of the page shows two Africans on horseback riding past a sign reading ‘Native Recruiting’ during the early years of mining activities. Over the decades millions of African labourers from all parts of southern Africa have converged on the area to be employed in the mines. They do all the physical labour, often in very bad conditions, under the supervision of white bosses, who benefit from the profits.” -- source link
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