Freedom Dancer: The South African

The work depicts anticipation of democracy in South Africa. The artist drew inspiration from anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko’s ideas of Black liberation, and considers this work to be a metaphorical rising of the ideals that Biko embodied, of freedom of the spirit, of liberation. The image is not only joyful – it also invokes dances that have formed part of protests in South Africa. According to the artist, the miner in gumboots jumps on the “devil”, as adherents of African Independent Churches do. The hands evoke Buddhist and Hindu iconography of energy and compassion, or possibly represent the hands who are protesting alongside the dancing figure.