Mail & Guardian reporter
When Gottfried Chmelar started taking pictures professionally he could not have realised he was documenting an important era in the history of black South Africans. During this period black musicians played a major role in the fight against apartheid. They helped destroy boundaries between black and white and build cross-cultural bridges.
During the apartheid years Chmelar saw his camera as a peaceful weapon in the struggle for change. He has accumulated a huge archive of photographs taken over a period of more than 20 years, which he now wishes to share with the people of South Africa.
These pictures exhibit the joy and the pain that black musicians and their audiences went through in those difficult times. With the tight laws dealing with segregation and the holding of political gatherings, music was a way for people to meet and mobilise support. It also became a major force for cultural pride, and kept up the spirits of black South Africans. This is clearly illustrated in the pictures of groups like Mahlatini and the Mohatella Queens, Harari, Joy, Juluka, Soul Brothers and Spirits Rejoice, among others.
The 1980s brought increased resistance and mobilisation against the apartheid government, including the cultural boycott, which was also reflected in the music of the time. Chmelar’s photographs capture the tension, energy and commitment of these South African musicians.
With the demise of apartheid many artists who had been in exile such as Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Caiphus Semenya and Abdullah Ibrahim, came home and the joy of performing in front of their home crowd has been captured, marking a new era for South African musicians.
Chmelar was born in Vienna. He became interested in theatre while at school, then he was involved with experimental theatre in all aspects from acting to the technical side. As a young man he undertook an extensive trip through Africa where he was exposed to a variety of African music, from Senegal through to the Congo. He talks of taking a trip down the Zaire river where music was played day and night for the week it took to sail from Libenge to Kinshasa.
When he arrived in South Africa he worked in theatre, and decided to stay. He loved the black music he could hear on Radio Bantu, the only place it was broadcast publicly at that time. His work in theatre brought him into contact with the cast of Ipi-Tombi, with whom he developed lasting friendships and who strengthened his interest in black music and musicians.
At the same time he was developing his skills as a photographer, particularly of theatre. But he was also photographing popular black musicians in illegal multiracial clubs such as Lovers Fantasy and Club New York City in the Johannesburg city centre. Drum magazine started using his pictures, and when Pace was launched in 1978 he was a major contributor to it, particularly in the fields of entertainment and soccer.
He also promoted the work of South African musicians in international publications. His work as a commercial photographer since then is broad-ranging, but photographing live music remains his passion.
Chmelar has dedicated his exhibition to his close colleagues and friends, the late Lucas Molete, first editor of Pace, and the late Vusi “High Voltage” Khumalo, top showbiz and music writer. However, it is also dedicated to the many musicians from that period who are no longer with us, and who have contributed immensely to the South African music scene.
This exhibition, to be held at MuseumAfrica, Newtown Precinct, is supported by the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival and Arts Alive International Festival, Afrika o a Kgalema.
The exhibition will be opened by advocate Neo Tsholanku. Museum hours: Tuesdays to Sundays 9am to 5pm. Admission is R5 for adults. Children, students and pensioners pay R2.