Why go
Follow the changes in materials and subject matter rather than expecting one national style. The older rock art, township practices and work by artists such as Zanele Muholi and William Kentridge speak to different eras and experiences. In Cape Town, the Iziko South African National Gallery is a useful cultural anchor.
The full story
Art in South Africa spans very different places and periods. Rock paintings associated with San communities are one early form, while later traditions brought other materials and visual languages. In the twentieth century, mines and townships became settings for new work, sometimes made with ordinary or discarded materials. Apartheid divided communities and opportunities, but artists also used images to examine its effects and the lives around them. Contemporary photography is one route into that history: Zanele Muholi, David Goldblatt and other photographers have reached international audiences. William Kentridge and Marlene Dumas work in different media. These names are starting points, not a claim that any one gallery has a particular work on display. If you visit the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town, check its current exhibition list and look for connections between the works and the landscapes or histories you have encountered elsewhere.