Giant mural wall featuring cultural icons unveiled in Maboneng
The project a collaboration between Arts &Culture Trust and Market Photo Workshop and supported by the EU Delegation to South Africa honours the five cultural icons Miriam Makeba, Sylvia Glasser, David Koloane, John Kani and Don Materra.
By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor
If today you visited Maboneng and happened to be walking along the busy Fox Street, next to the famous truck-turned into the restaurant, the wall of the building that houses Afro Bru restaurant has been turned into a giant beautiful wart work in the form of a mural that depicts the faces of some of the most recognizable faces in South African culture. These are individuals, some who have since passed on, but the three still with us to day, and who have made a mark and huge impact on the country’s culture.
We turned up to witness this huge reveal that we had heard about for months until it eventually manifested. We were also honoured by the presence of two of the three surviving cultural giants, Dr. John Kani and Dr. Don Materra both of whom spoke passionately about compassion towards fellow human beings in general, and particularly about children and the need to support the youth’s creativity.
During the proceedings it became apparent that the guest felt honoured by these two’s presence, but one of the still surviving cultural giants, Sylvia “Magogo; could not make it as she now leaves in Australia , having retired from Moving Into Dance, the iconic Newtown based dance outfit that teaches a contemporary dance genre called Afro-fusion. Instead at the unveiling, Glasser was represented by members of her dance company, who entertained guets by their dance moves, as well as Moving into Dance managing director Nadia Virsamay.
The Arts & Culture Trust Warrior Wall in Maboneng e In the form of this giant Warrior Wall mural measuring 5.5 x 7.8m honours the five cultural icons Kani (theatre) Materra (literature), Glasser (dance), Miriam Makeba (music) and David Koloane (visual art) – all of whom who are also fellow recipients of the Arts & Culture Trust Lifetime Achievement Award.
Supported by the European Union Delegation, this cultural development project brought together 5 female photographers from Market Photo Workshop, four writers working under Ar(t)chive’s Tammy Ballantyne Webber, five mentors and two artists from the Danger Gevaar Ingozi Studio. When next in Maboneng please visit 299 Fox Street to view the product of united creativity.
But it is the speeches by Materra, Kani and Dr. Riina Koinka, Ambbassador Eu Delegation to South Africa that touched many at the event, especially as the speeches touched on the issue of supporting young creative minds in South Africa, as well as protecting them from harm in a society that sometimes loses its way with regards to these obligations.
“Unfortunately this country in many ways tends to kill the youth. We need compassion towards fellow human beings, just as Jesus demonstrated that. All my life I dedicated to developing young people and being compassionate towards them. If anyone touches a single hair on a child, it is better If that person was not born,” Materra said who is now elderly, walking with the help of a stick, but still very energetic and full of life as his cracked his usual hilarious jokes said.
Kani spoke on the need for especially the youth to understand the importance of reading, and said that his generation, besides the burden of living in an oppressive apartheid system of the time read widely.
“I personally learned to read anything that I came across, and one of the writing that I came across was the poetry of Dr. Don Materra at the age of 22 and that poetry touched me fundamentally,” said Kani.
Koinka said that the idea of a starving artist should never have to be part of contemporary society.
Participating artists in the creation of the mural wall include Nathaniel Sheppard 111, and Minenkulu Ngoyi from Danger Gevaar Ingozi Studio under visual art mentor Loyisa Old John.
The five young female participating photographers from the Market Photo Workshop who created images, their own interpretation of the lives and times of the five icons and whose work are part of an exhibition currently on at the Market Photo Workshop gallery in Newtown are Simphiwe Thabede, Zegupu Ngemtu, Remofiloe Sebode, Bongiwe Phakath and Tsepiso Mabone who were mentored by Thato Mogotsi, Buyaphi Mdledle and Rolihlahla Mhlanga.
The young writres who contributed text to the project are Siphumelele Gumede and Tsholofelo Seleke (Phase 1) and Ntshadi Mofokeng and Thobi Maphanga under the mentorship of Tammy Ballantyne Webber.
“This project is going to be an annual event, an annual event in a sense that there is going to be something happening every month throughout the year,” remarked Marcus Desando, outgoing Chief Executive Officer of Arts & Culture Trust who is leaving in a few months time for The Netherlands, where he landed a top arts funding administration job.
UPDATE
Apology to Dr. Riina Koinka and Debra De Souza.
CITYLIFE/ARTS would like to apologise to both Ambassador Koinka and Debra De Souza for the inconvenence caused. The correct picture and caption is as follows::
