BLACK CHRIST

IN HIS CELEBRATED OIL PAINTING 'THE BLACK CHRIST', ARTIST RONALD HARRISON CHOSE CHIEF ALBERT LUTHULI AS A MODEL FOR THE FACE OF THE CHRIST. HE MODELED THE TWO CENTURIONS ON JOHN VORSTER AND HENDRIK VERWOERD, THE ARCH-EXPONENTS OF APARTHEID. FOR THIS BOLD ACT OF WORSHIP AND DEFIANCE AND HIS SUBSEQUENT REFUSAL TO DIVULGE THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE PAINTING, RONALD HARRISON WAS INCARCERATED, TORTURED AND HARASSED. THE BLACK CHRIST TELLS THE STORY OF THESE EVENTS AND, BEYOND THAT, THE STORY OF MAN'S INHUMANITY TO MAN. THE PAINTING, WHICH WAS UNVEILED IN 1962 AT ST LUKE'S ANGLICAN CHURCH IN SALT RIVER, CAPE TOWN, WITH THE PERMISSION OF ARCHBISHOP JOOST DE BLANK, CAUSED A STIR WHEN FEATURED IN LOCAL NEWSPAPERS. THE MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR INSTRUCTED THAT IT BE TAKEN DOWN, AND THE YOUNG ARTIST WAS ORDERED TO APPEAR BEFORE THE CENSOR BOARD. IN THE ORDINARY COURSE OF EVENTS, THE PAINTING WOULD HAVE BEEN DESTROYED. INSTEAD - IN WHAT THE AUTHOR SEES AS DIVINE INTERVENTION - IT WAS NOT CONFISCATED, B