The Amandla is Unity exhibition foregrounds the work of youth activists in the fight against apartheid in the lead up to the 50th anniversary of the Soweto student uprisings in 1976. Student-led protests against the apartheid government’s educational directives, which included the Bantu Education Act and the institution of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction, coalesced into a South African Student Movement. Students organized a peaceful march on June 16, 1976 that attracted thousands of high school students. Along the march route youth were met by heavily armed police who fired tear gas and later live ammunition. 12 year-old student Hector Pieterson was shot and killed. The news of Pieterson’s death, and the violent response to peaceful protests of students, lead to student protests across South Africa and the globe.

The works in this exhibition are artists’ personal responses to their own crisis with images or their image making process. The value in reaching a breaking point is that it can generate new ways of making sense. Think beyond the crisis rather than restore the function of a system in failure.

This spring, the TCNJ Art Gallery will feature the work of graduating Graphic Design and FIne Art students in a series of showcase exhibitions in the main gallery.