One of the laws on the books during the Apartheid era—the Bantu Education Act—mandated that Black education could only prepare people for unskilled labor. The idea was to create a permanent underclass that could not function in management, education or government. During the 1980s when the government proclaimed a state of emergency and suspended all civil rights, Blacks turned to art as a means to express dissent. The Community Arts Project (CAP) was formed to train and equip Blacks to oppose the government through art. Obviously, given the illegal nature of its work, CAP had to function in this role clandestinely. Since independence in 1994, CAP has focused on trying to close the gap between white and black art, funding art education for people who were traditionally shut out. The result is not only skill development for emerging black artists, but a cultural revival of art forms that were becoming endangered through the political system of Apartheid. CAP trains people in visual arts, dance, drama and music.