The Republic Festival Art Exhibition, held in 1981, was intended to mark the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of South Africa. As can be imagined, it was a highly controversial exhibition in which many South African artists refused to participate.
The South African Association of Arts was asked by then Minister of Education, Gerrit Viljoen, to be the organisers of the exhibition, which would be a main event in the celebration of the 20 years of the Republic and would - ironically-take place in Durban.

The Natal branch of the Association, supported by the Western Cape branch, refused to take part and recom­mended to all artists that, although it was their personal choice, they should boycott the exhibition.

Artists had little reason to celebrate the anniversary, and their boycott would be a means of protest against the discriminatory education policies practised by the Government.

This strong political stand taken by the art community in the face of a well funded national exhibition, which offered the unprecedented first prize of RIO 000, was a turning point in the direction of the policy and future of the Association.

In the end a paltry 221 artists participated. In his opening address, Viljoen appeared to recognise the crisis and announced the appointment of a presidential commission of enquiry into the arts. The commission seemed at the time to be some justification for the boycott, but it proved to be of little consequence.

The exhibition was held in the Ocean Terminal Building at the Durban Docks. Diana Kenton opened her review of the exhibition in the Daily News of May 24, 1981, by commenting:

It could only happen in apartheid South Africa that a government should strive to publicly congratulate itself for staging an art exhibition that is multi-racial. Called the Republican Exhibition, it is ironic to find that a cross-section in racial terms reveals an overwhelming participation by white artists, numbering 214. counter balanced by a token sprinkling of seven black artists."

The Minister's emphasis on the non-racial aspect of the event was somewhat out of date. By 1981 non-racial exhibitions were not exceptional. The first Art: South Africa: Today had been held no less than 18 years earlier.

Diana Kenton went on to review some of the art. It seemed that although many white artists ignored the exhibition, some used it as an opportunity to express their abhorrence of the system.

Natal Mercury art critic, Marilynne Hollaway, interviewed Edward Lucie-Smith, the eminent art critic and author who came from England to adjudicate. He was enthusiastic about the work of several black artists whose pieces he either encountered on the exhibition or 'discovered' at the African Art Centre.

Top of his list were John Muafangejo, Azaria Mbatha, Vuminkosi Zulu, Paul Sibisi andjudus Mahlangu, whose colour etchings he compared with early British artist Samuel Palmer. He also mentioned Duke Ketye and Raphael Magwaza's sculptures.

Lucie-Smith bought a number of linocut prints from the African Art Centre as well as tapestries by former Rorke's Drift weavers Jessie DIamini and Allina Ndebele, which he said 'would have been in great danger of walking off with important prizes had they been exhibited.' He bought some of them and followed with an order for several geometric Rorke's Drift rugs. He also invited six artists to participate in the 1982 British International Print Biennial in Bradford.