Description
Durant Basi Sihlali (1934 – 2004)
Born in 1934 in Germiston, Durant Basi Sihlali was a pioneering South African artist known for his realistic portrayals of township life and rural landscapes under apartheid. After spending part of his childhood in Cala, where he was inspired by Xhosa wall murals, he began his formal art education at the Chiawelo Art Centre under Alphius Kubeka (1950 – 1953), later learning from Carlo Sdoya and Sidney Goldblatt. From 1953 to 1958, he trained under Cecil Skotnes at the Polly Street Art Centre. Unlike many of his contemporaries exploring abstraction and African symbolism, Sihlali remained committed to realism, documenting urban black life in South Africa with a sensitive eye. His prolific output included watercolours, monotypes, sculpture, and printmaking, his work took on new forms influenced by graffiti and traditional mural art after studying at Villa Arson in France.
Sihlali led the Fine Arts Department at the Federated Union of Black Artists (FUBA) and mentored students from Wits Technikon and Funda Art Centre.
