The City of Johannesburg’s Arts, Culture and Heritage Directorate presents an exhibition of photographs by Jacob Mawela, which captures the history of newsmakers who trended in South Africa.

Titled “Names in Uphill Letters”, the exhibition is visual historiography encapsulating figures from South Africa’s history ranging from Mrs. Ples (a Hominid fossil presently on display at the Ditsong Museum in Pretoria) to past and present roleplayers in the sciences, politics, academia, sports, economics, literature, law and humanities, among others.

“The exhibition aims to dispense visual literacy as the driver of social cohesion mainly, yet not exclusively, among the country’s millennials who have fallen into the trap of the polarisation of the pre-1994 past of their paren​ts’ generation,” says Mawela.

“Names in Uphill Letters” has been made possible by part funding from the National Arts Council and the City of Johannesburg’s Art, Culture and Heritage Directorate.

The exhibition takes place at the Workers’ Museum on Sunday, 29 May 2022, at 2pm.