An exhibition of the late photographer George Hallett's works, which captured South African emigrants during apartheid, will take place in Bristol at the Bristol Photo Festival this month. Hallett, who was born in Cape Town, left South Africa in 1970 and returned in 1995.
The exhibition, titled 'George Hallett: Home and Exile,' is scheduled to open on October 14th and will run for a month in Bristol. It will be housed in a building that previously served as the South African Resource Centre (SARC), an organization supporting anti-apartheid solidarity. This centre was established to raise awareness in England about South Africa's brutal policy of segregation.
The exhibition curator, Christine Ayen, according to event information, plans to 'play rare jazz recordings associated with musicians photographed by South African photographer George Hallett, bringing their music into the gallery alongside his images.'
Photographer George Hallett, originally from Cape Town, took pictures of South Africans in exile—many of whom were his friends—for the covers of the 'African Writers Series' book series. Christine Ayen, whose sister was married to Hallett, who taught her photography when she was young, noted that George encouraged her to study other art forms, which led her to art history.
Her interest in Hallett's photography, which was exhibited in various countries during his lifetime, began in 2004. In 2024, she completed her doctoral research on 'the relationship between text, African literature, and visual representation' in Hallett's photographs.
Ayen recounted that after studying art history, she left France and lived in Morocco. She wrote to George informing him of her desire to work with him. By then, he and her sister had divorced. Nevertheless, he remained important to her views on art.
'I curated an exhibition of his work in 2005. I wanted to create knowledge around his work. The more knowledge there is, the higher the work can be sold; otherwise, it is considered second-rate,' shared Ayen.
Art curator Christine Ayen from London assembled a collection of works by the late photographer George Hallett for an exhibition in Bristol, England, this month. Hallett entrusted Ayen with some of his photographs, which she calls her 'research collection' and uses in exhibitions.
Ayen mentioned that in 2010, she loaned part of his works to the auction house Bonhams (specializing in fine art) so that people interested in portraits of South African artists taken by George could see them. These photographs were gifted to her by him, and some have been with her since her studies.
It is important to her to ensure the integration of his photographs into the mainstream, rather than marginalization. The connection of his work with other practices is also important.
Hallett met and photographed many South Africans fleeing apartheid and finding refuge in Europe, where he lived in exile from 1970 to the mid-1990s. A significant part of his work consists of book covers he created for the 'African Writers Series' published by Heinemann in London while he was in England.
Ayen notes that his friends—South African emigrants—were featured on these covers. At that time, he transitioned from photojournalism to visual experiments with various techniques. Ayen owns several such books featuring Hallett's photographs.
In her statement for the exhibition, Ayen writes that Hallett 'photographed both South African emigrants and black life with the intention of creating a visual record that would restore the dignity of a people whose dignity was absent or distorted in the mainstream media.'
She also points out that his experience of discrimination during apartheid and lack of professional opportunities as a mixed-race South African led to his exile. He first settled in England in the early 1970s, then moved to France and the Netherlands. There, he created an incredible photographic archive of black resistance and resilience both in places of exile and in places he considered home.
The exhibition 'George Hallett: Home and Exile' runs at IC Visual Lab, 6 West Street in Bristol, from October 14th to November 15th.