Artist Database

Durant Basi Sihlali, born in 1935 in Germiston, 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, Eastern Cape, 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 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. In the 1980s, his work took on new forms influenced by graffiti and traditional mural art after studying at Villa Arson in France.

From 1983 to 1988, Sihlali led the Fine Arts Department at the Federated Union of Black Artists (FUBA) and mentored students from Wits Technikon and Funda Art Centre. His work is included in major collections such as the University of Fort Hare, the National Museum of Botswana, and various South African corporate collections. He died in Soweto in 2004.