07-05-2025
GroundWork KZNSA exhibit celebrates 25 years of activism
OVER two decades of environmental activism is on display at the KwaZulu-Natal Society of the Arts (KZNSA) Gallery on Bulwer Road, where the social justice non-profit organisation, groundWork, is exhibiting their 25-year legacy of fighting for the well-being of South Africans.
The exhibit, which began on May 2 and will conclude on June 8, is displayed in four sections of the gallery with visitors being greeted at the door by social justice banners and placards with powerful messages such as 'Protect our human rights defenders and whistleblowers' and 'Waste not! Burn not! Africa' from 2007. Dorothy Brislin, senior communications campaigner at groundWork, said the exhibition is about highlighting and celebrating the organisation's legacy in fighting environmental injustice.
'The organisation was started by three people in Pietermaritzburg,' said Brislin. 'Today we have over 50 staff members, a majority of whom are Durban-based and we have links across the continent.' She said groundWorks was born out of the Durban South Basin community's fight against pollution as people were getting sick from the toxic air and land that they were living on.
Also Read: Durban environmental organisation marches for climate change
'The principle behind groundWork is to support communities while helping them to organise and mobilise for where there is no accountability on part of corporates in the fossil fuel industries who were putting profit before the people,' said Brislin. 'Fighting climate change is also a major part of the organisation as we have seen its devastating effects, particularly in Durban.'
The exhibition, curated by Vaugh Sadie, includes still and moving images, placards, campaign T-shirts, and affidavits among other items from campaigns in the fight against fossil fuels, nuclear power and fracking. There is a section that shines a spotlight on the UPL chemical spill disaster with affidavits on the impact available for people to read.
A memorial wall where those who died while fighting for a safe and pollution free SA are honoured is another major feature in the exhibit. Whistle-blowers who blew a lid on corruption, human rights violations, and environmental and social injustice are celebrated. 'For each room, we tried to find something that would make you feel like you are with the banners outside, it makes you like you were part of the march with the placards. In sound room, you are part of the people singing the protest song,' said Sadie as he explained the thought process behind the exhibit.
'What we tried to do with the spaces is to create a sense of people, that you are among people and that you are never alone. That was the intention of this. There is crispness that we bring to the detailing to the exhibition, the minimal style that allows you to engage with it.'
The exhibition is open throughout the week, with walkabouts offered on Saturdays, from 10:00 to 12:00. From May 21, they are inviting schools to book tours of the exhibition.
For more information or to book, contact the gallery via email: gallery@ or call 031 277 1705.
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