In memory of the photographer Santu Mofokeng (*1956 in Johannesburg, †2020 in Johannesburg), who died in early 2020, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein is once again including his 1996 edition in its program. Mofokeng started as a street photographer as an autodidact in the 1970s. He then worked as an assistant in the darkrooms of various newspapers and later studied with David Goldblatt at his Market Photo Workshop. In 1983, he joined Afrapix, an independent group of photographers who opposed apartheid through their documentary images. From 1987 onwards, his photo reportages were published in the New Nation newspaper. From 1988 to 1998 Mofokeng was a research assistant at the African Studies Institute of the Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg. His essayistic photographs of the everyday life of South Africa’s black population subtly reflect the struggle against apartheid, questioning social and political conditions as well as ownership and power structures. The photograph Altar/Offertory (Motouleng Cave) was taken in the Motouleng Caves, a site of spiritual pilgrimage in South Africa.

Mofokeng’s works have been shown internationally in numerous exhibitions, including at: FOAM, Amsterdam (2019); Fondazione Fotografia Modena (2016); The Walther Collection, New York (2015); Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town (2013; 2006); Venice Biennale (2013; 2007); Jeu de Paume, Paris (2011); Kunsthalle Bern (2011); Victoria & Albert Museum, London (2011); Minshar, Tel Aviv (2010); Johannesburg Art Gallery (2008); Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (2007); National Museum of Photography, Copenhagen (2005); documenta (2002); Nederlands Foto Instituut, Rotterdam (1998); Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (1996).