R6099/9 T shirt

This T shirt was produced for the ‘Salt March’ that took place in Durban in 2005. It pays tribute to three non-violent protest movements: the 85th anniversary of the original Salt March led by Mahatma Ghandhi in 1930, instrumental to ending the British Empire in India, and the 50th anniversary of South Africa’s Freedom Charter and ANC president Albert Lutuli’s work on this. The back of the T shirt reads ‘Honouring the Women of 1913’, in reference to the Bloemfontein anti-pass campaign, a series of actions by women of colour in protest against the restriction of their movement in the Orange Free State. This form of ‘protest’ or ‘struggle’ T shirt became popular in South Africa during the anti-apartheid movement; wearing garments that make a political statement continues to be popular across Africa. Collected for the Fashioning Africa Project.

Place: KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Date: c.2005