This week's cover illustration is the handiwork of Peet Pienaar, an Afrikaner born and raised on a farm 60 miles outside Johannesburg in the days when apartheid was the law of the land. Pienaar, whose appearance this week is his first in the Book Review, stands in the forefront of a generation of South African artists who are erasing long-standing boundaries. Last year he was commissioned to create the graphics for Cape Town's first art biennale, and he is the publisher, designer and editor of Afro magazine, which showcases contemporary African writing and culture.
Pienaar has also become increasingly visible on the American scene. He has designed a limited edition shirt for Gavin Henson, a British rugby player, for Nike, and he will be the chairman of the Clio Awards in 2007. ''Competing in your own continent with Paris Hilton, where most people don't know who Stacy Hardy, Gazelle or Richard De Jager is, is fun and exciting,'' he said in an e-mail message. ''My world is changing day by day, and the West is turning into a childhood memory. ''The Editors
