Notes

In 2009, photographer Jo Ractliffe embarked on the first of two road trips across Angola to document the aftermath of the South African Border War (1966-90). She was guided by a group of South African combatants involved in this protracted conflict connected to the Cold War and South Africa’s imperial influence across the subcontinent. Her longstanding interest in Angola and the war was sharpened by an earlier photography project in Luanda titled Terreno Ocupado (2007). Her exploration of the country’s oil-rich coastal capital had suggested a need to explore the war-wracked interior. Ractliffe encountered an abandoned landscape “indifferent to the collapsing of time and history”.¹ She photographed unpeopled battle sites, leftover military infrastructure, gravesites, monuments and mined landscapes. This selection foregrounds her interest in wall art as eloquent signifiers of history. Mural, FAPLA base Lobito (lot 105) was one of many frescoes at an abandoned military base near the southern port city of Lobito and abutted a slogan proclaiming the victory of socialism. Photographed at the same site, Comfort Station (lot 107) highlights the phenomenon of military prostitution. The triptych depicting Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Angola’s first president Agostinho Neto and Soviet Union leader Leonid Brezhnev was found in a house in the southern settlement of Viriambundo. It has been extensively referenced in publications. Cuba actively supported Africa’s wars of independence, notably with troops, while Russia provided strategic military hardware.

^1. Jo Ractliffe (2010) As Terras do Fim do Mundo, Cape Town: Stevenson, page 8.

Provenance

Stevenson, Cape Town, 1 November 2010.

The Oliver Powell and Timely Investments Trust Collection.

Exhibited

Stevenson, Cape Town, As Terras do Fim do Mundo, 21 October to 27 November 2010.

Literature

Stevenson (2010) As Terras do Fim do Mundo, Cape Town: Stevenson, illustrated on page 71.