 |
 |
 |
| This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
 |
 |
Artwork to travel by
- Details
- 11 April 2012
The stations along the second Rea Vaya route, Phase 1B, have all been decorated with artworks that reflect their surroundings, and Joburg as a whole.
FROM cheerful washing blowing on a line and a playful giraffe and hippo, to Melville Koppies grasses and a miniature forest, Joburg commuters taking the new Rea Vaya bus route will have an arty experience.
The seven artists – Bronwen Findlay, Jan Tshikhuthula, John Moore, Lucas Nkgweng, Mfundo Ketye, Craig Smith and Nelson Makamo – appear to have had fun conceptualising their ideas. Each artist has produced two images, opposite each other at the entrance to each station on the new section that runs along Perth, Kingsway and Empire roads.
This is part of Phase 1B that starts in Thokoza Park in Soweto and goes to Parktown and the Library Gardens in the CBD, via Noordgesig, Pennyville, Bosmont, Westbury, Westdene, Rossmore, Auckland Park, Milpark and Constitution Hill. The route covers the suburbs of Soweto, as well as Richmond, Melville, Westbury, Riverlea, Bosmont, Brixton, Coronationville, New Canada, Pennyville, Crosby, Newclare and Noordgesig. It is expected to be opened in June.
The Empire Road section extends northwest and passes the universities of Johannesburg and Witwatersrand, as well as Helen Joseph and Rahima Moosa hospitals, with many of its passengers expected to be students, hospital staff and patients.
Artists were asked for designs relevant to the area and context of each of the new BRT stations, or to adapt existing artwork. The designs were sandblasted or spray-stencilled on to glass panels, or laser-cut and painted on to steel sheets.
LINOCUT ARTWORKS
Findlay says that her work was translated from three of her linocuts. They depict a richly textured black and white image of grasses found on Melville Koppies, combined with the marks made by different cutting tools, and seeds found on the ground in the veld, she says.
"Although my interpretations are based on observations and experiences of being in the highveld landscape, these interpretations are also about finding a way to simplify what I see and feel so that the lines, marks, dots and shapes represent a mood or feeling about the landscape," she adds.
CONNECTION TO GRANDFATHER
Tshikhuthula's work is informed by his connection to his late grandfather, whom he didn't know but about whom he learnt from his neighbour, saying he "inherited much of his character" from his grandfather.
His images are striking but somewhat sombre – black silhouetted shapes against a white sky, with bits of dead branches forming a rough fence.
"I am trying to use him as subject matter to find my roots and culture. He was a creative metal worker who provided the community with household metal crafts such as kettles, cups, bowls and bathing bowls," he says. "I believe that he passed that creativity on to me. With these two artworks I wish to trace his craftsmanship and celebrate his legacy."
Tshikhuthula says his grandfather lived near a bus station, so it has special significance to him to decorate the station. "In a sense, with the station bearing my artwork, I will feel as much connected to him as I do to the station."
IMAGES FROM THE BUSH
Moore depicts two bold, almost playful images from the bush. One is the head of a large open-mouthed hippo, with miniature hippos floating over its head, against the background of a Joburg city scene. He says: "In the hippo image, [called] Lights, Camera, Action, we see this rather elusive mammal displaying in full view of cameras, loving the limelight and performing in front of them."
A roll of film rolls around the image, "showing the transference from old technology to new".
Its counterpart is an image of a giraffe, entitled Energy Moves. A thick-necked giraffe is surrounded by shamans in states of trance, says Moore. "They lead it into the heart of the city where it is involved in grounding the earth and connecting its 'waves' to all parts of the country. Everyone 'tuned in' receives its signal." This energy runs down its back and neck, forming the connector from heaven to earth.
Moore says he has "a deep affinity for Africa, its people, fauna and nature", and his inspiration "is derived from dream imagery, experiences in nature and the myths and legends of the Khoi-San people".
The images will certainly keep the commuters at the station pondering their meaning.
LETSEMA
Ngweng calls his work "Letsema", a Pedi word meaning a mob of people working together to achieve one goal, he says. It was inspired by the rapid road and transport infrastructure development that the City is undertaking. It is a fusion of different shapes in black and white, tickling the imagination.
"The infrastructure is serving the culturally diverse communities from around the country who come to Johannesburg for employment," he says. "The fragments, or patterns in the piece represent the spirit of the city, the people, the vibe and energy; the footprint represents the consistent movement of the people from one place to another, day and night, people going and coming back from work, some working night shifts."
Ngweng uses colourful discs that represent buttons, "a metaphor for unity, bringing people together and working together".
COLOURFUL WASHING
Ketye's artwork will brighten any commuter's day. It depicts three lines of colourful washing blowing in the wind. Looking at it you can almost feel the breeze. Around the other side of the station, on the corner of Kingsway and Henley roads, are four women bending over their buckets, hands busy doing the washing.
"When I took on the brief to showcase the livelihoods within our province, I saw no better way to represent this than what we call iWashing!!!" says Ketye.
He explains that he lives in and around Soweto, and when visiting friends and colleagues he always comes across a line full of washing. "At times I would be fortunate enough to find someone who is actually doing the washing at the time." He is intrigued to find people preparing their clothes and shoes for a particular evening out, "as if their entire social life depended on their cleanliness".
"After all, most people's confidence is determined by their appearance and in the townships, appearance is everything."
The artist is struck by the contrast between washing in the townships and washing in the suburbs: in the townships you see upmarket clothing brands like Diesel, Takeshy and Paul Smith, in the wealthier suburbs there are more downmarket brands like Mr Price, PEP, Jet and Woolworths, he says.
CONNECTIONS
Makamo's Connections is a depiction of different portraits, figures and shapes from both an urban and a rural setting, he explains. Over the past eight years, he has examined the movement of people in and out of the city, and this movement forms part of his work.
"Through the use of figures and space I explore the manner in which rural-urban migration has changed in accordance with contemporary culture," he says. The boundaries between the rural and urban are becoming blurred as "more rural areas begin to resemble urban landscapes".
"Urban spaces are ever expanding, encroaching upon the terrain of neighbouring urban areas and giving rise to conurbation."
A FOREST OF TREES
Smith's depiction of an elegant miniature forest brings trees back into Empire Road, at a place where dozens of trees were cut down to make way for road widening and the BRT station. He says he was struck, when he first heard about it, that Joburg is one of the world's biggest man-made forests.
In 2010, 76 mature plane trees were removed from Empire Road, between Jan Smuts Avenue and Victoria Road. In September 2011, 196 bush willows and paperbark acacia trees were planted to replace the lost trees.
"This would be putting the image of the tree back into Empire Road, and the commuters would be silhouetted inside a forest when using the station," says Smith.
The artworks were the result of an open call to Johannesburg artists and the final selection was made by a committee from the City's arts, culture and heritage department and the Johannesburg Development Agency, together with the Trinity Session, the commissioning agents.
Related stories:
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
