Iconographies of Gender, Poverty, and Power in Contemporary South African Visual Culture

Abstract

This article examines the iconography of the feminization of poverty in women's printed textiles produced by artists at the Philani Project in Crossroads, Cape Town. The Philani Project was initially formed as part of an ambitious, nationwide, antipoverty initiative, with the long-term goal of battling child malnutrition and poverty by training unemployed mothers to be artists. An analysis of the Philani Project suggests the artists achieved empowerment through the creation of visually powerful autobiographical narratives and the income earned from their sale.