Counterculture

“ Underground culture reemerges into the spotlight amidst a recognition of decades of protest.”

Underground culture, or simply "underground", is a term used to describe various countercultural movements or groups of individuals that either consider themselves different from the mainstream of society and culture, or are considered so by others. The word "underground" invokes a world historical trend of resistance movements against and often literally “underneath” harsh regimes.
        The end of South African apartheid in 1989¹ led to the emergence and celebration of previously underground cultural trends. The music genres of Kwaito, Gqom and South African House, all of which were racially-charged, and could not have been licensed under apartheid law, began to be played more often. A compilation of rare pictures of Hillbrow underground bars in the 1960s was exhibited on the anniversary of the referendum that saw South Africans vote to abolish apartheid, celebrating these venues as moments of dismantling segregated norms. In Johannesburg, promoters began to host events in venues such as old cinemas, empty warehouses, the abandoned Constitution Hill precinct, and previously White-owned clubs. These spaces had urban allure, fostering a space for escapism and multiculturalism, and breeding new formats of diversity and inclusion in the reborn multi-racial democracy of South Africa.²

Image source: Underground Nightclub, diagram, author