Old Hillbrow, Johannesburg, South Africa
Nils Burwitz
South Africa, born 1940
![Old Hillbrow, Johannesburg, South Africa](https://highmuseum-redesign.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/datasync/collection-objects/34658_1716888121007.jpg)
Details
Title
Old Hillbrow, Johannesburg, South Africa
Artist/Maker
Nils Burwitz (South Africa, born 1940)
Date
1976
Medium
Dimensions
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Credit
Gift of Robert Scully
Accession #
2018.36
This print depicts the urban landscape of Johannesburg’s Old Hillbrow neighborhood, designated a “Whites-only” area in the 1970s. Burwitz’s loose draftsmanship and use of linear strokes suggest a city in flux, socially and physically constructed by invisible forces. A dark cloud emitting sheets of rain hangs like an omen above the chaos of a neighborhood constrained by the racial politics of its time.