Fook Island Banknote by Norman Catherine, unsigned (c.1970's)

A piece of South African art history. A Fook Island Banknote, specifically the "1ak" note, created as part of the Fook Island conceptual art project, the brainchild of the legendary South African artist Walter Battiss (known as King Ferd III of Fook Island) and his close collaborator, Norman Catherine (known as the Norman King), who is the artist of this specific banknote.

Fook Island, founded in the early 1970s, was a "utopian, imaginary island" created as a playful but pointed rebuke to the rigid censorship and social restrictions of apartheid-era South Africa. It wasn't just a series of paintings; it was a fully realized "state of mind" with its own:

• Alphabet and Language: (visible in the "Fook script" scattered throughout this note).

• Stamps and Currency: Like the banknote.

• Passports: Battiss famously traveled the world using his Fookian passport, which was actually stamped by customs officials in the UK, US, and Germany.

About This Banknote

• Artist: Norman Catherine.

• Subject: The central figure is a self-portrait of a young Norman Catherine, surrounded by the "Fookian" creatures and "anthropomorphic beasts" he is famous for.
The note is incredibly dense with "Fookian" puns and hidden text. These were primarily produced in the late 1970s (around 1975–1978).

126mm x 67mm

R1,500