Durant Sihlali (1935–2004) was a South African painter, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor best known for his sensitively observed depictions of township life and the elegiac quality he brought to recording the spatial violence of apartheid-era demolition and displacement. Born in Germiston and partly raised in the Eastern Cape, he received early training at the Chiawelo Art Centre and later at the Polly Street Art Centre in Johannesburg, where he worked under Cecil Skotnes and developed the technical foundations of a practice he would sustain over four decades.
Sihlali remained deeply committed to observing the social and physical landscapes around him, particularly the conditions of urban black life: forced removals, the demolition of homes and communities, and the makeshift architectures of places under threat. Watercolour was central to his practice, allowing him to work quickly and on location in ways that captured the fragile, impermanent quality of the environments he depicted. His watercolours are celebrated for their delicacy, restraint and ability to convey grief and dignity simultaneously, without resorting to protest or melodrama.
In addition to his studio practice, Sihlali was a significant presence in arts education and cultural leadership. He headed the Fine Arts programme at the Foundation for the Creative Arts (FUBA) and mentored a generation of younger artists who benefitted from his example as both practitioner and teacher. He also worked with the Thupelo workshops and remained connected to the broader institutional networks through which black South African art was developed during and after apartheid.
His work is held in major South African collections and he is regarded as one of the essential voices of his generation.
