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.

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.  

Showing at The Portico Library, Kaplan’s prints and political cartoons are displayed alongside three books from the nineteenth and early twentieth century on Southern Africa in the Portico Library’s collection. The display will ask visitors to consider the legacy of imperialism, conquest and romanticised visions of Africa, as depicted in Olive Schreiner’s Life on an African Farm and other selected items from the Portico’s historical collection.