David Koloane

David Nthubu Koloane (5 June 1938 – 30 June 2019) was a South African artist.

In his drawings, paintings and collages he explored questions about political injustice and human rights.

Koloane is considered to have been "an influential artist and writer of the apartheid years" in South Africa.

David Koloane was born on 5 June 1938 in the township of Alexandra, a suburb of Johannesburg in South Africa.

Already during high school he started being interested in art and doing art in his leisure time when not working to earn money for the family.

From 1974 to 1977 Koloane attended art classes at the Bill Ainslie Studios, which later became the Johannesburg Art Foundation.

In 1977, Koloane was one of the founding members of the first black gallery in South Africa, located in Johannesburg.

His increasing dedication to art led him to start teaching at a high school in a township, first as a part-time job, later full-time.

Also in the following years Koloane was very active and committed: in 1982, he co-curated the Culture and Resistance Arts Festival in Botswana, from 1986 to 1988 he was the curator of the Fuba Art Gallery in Johannesburg and in 1990 he co-ordinated and co-curated the Zabalaza Festivals in London, England.

Additionally, Koloane studied at the University of London from 1984 to 1985 and received a diploma in museology.

He participated in the 1989 Pachipamwe II Workshop held at Cyrene Mission outside Bulawayo, Zimbabwe alongside prominent artists including Joram Mariga, Bernard Matemera, Bill Ainslie, Voti Thebe, Sokari Douglas Camp and Adam Madebe.

Koloane created an artist residency called Bag Factory with collector Robert Loder in an area not strictly black or white during Apartheid segregation in 1991.

Artists Sam Nhlengethwa and Kagiso Patrick Mautloa were the first resident artists and it went on to host William Kentridge, Helen Sebidi, Penny Siopis, Wayne Barker, Benon Lutaaya and Deborah Bell among many.

David Koloane's works are part of many collections worldwide, including the collections of the Johannesburg Art Gallery, The Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC) of Jean Pigozzi, the South African National Gallery in Cape Town and the Botswana National Museum.

In 1998, Koloane was honored with a Prince Claus Award for his contribution to the development of art in South Africa.

He states about his work:

"My concern in socio-political matters and contributions to the furtherance of disadvantaged black South African artists during and after the apartheid era is evident. My work can be said to reflect the socio-political landscape of South Africa both past and present. The socio political conditions created by the apartheid system of government have to a large extent transfixed the human condition as the axis around which my work evolves. The human figure has become the icon of creative expression".

The David Koloane Award was established in 2010 to celebrate the life and career of Dr. David Koloane as the respected artist, curator, writer, and founding member of the Bag Factory Artists' Studios.

The award honors Dr. Koloane's contributions to the arts industry and supports emerging artists who share his passion and dedication.

Recipients of the award are offered a three-month residency at the Bag Factory Artists' Studios, which includes a studio space, a materials stipend, mentorship from the Bag Factory and established artists, and culminates in a solo exhibition of a new body of work in the Bag Factory gallery.

This award has provided valuable opportunities for artists to develop their skills and showcase their work, and has paved the way for numerous artists over the last few years.

Koloane had a wide-ranging work area: as an artist, he always connected his own works to respective social controversies; furthermore, he contributed to various catalogues, curated exhibitions, was part of jury boards several times – amongst others in the advisory board of the National Arts Council, and published many articles both in South Africa and internationally.