A History & Rebirth Told Through Artistry

A History & Rebirth Told Through Artistry

Jenna Canavan

     One thing that I have noticed in particular about our time in both Johannesburg and Cape Town is how big of an influence art has over the South African culture, as well as the value of it and its widespread prevalence. In both of the cities that we have visited there has been a vast amount of public artistry on display. 
     Even in the many memorials and heritage sights the artistry is extremely visible. Everything dedicated to the end of apartheid is so symbolic. While visiting various sights the influence of art was clear. Outside of the Constitution Hill Courthouse were dark marble stones in the ground in the shape of men’s shadows to represent those prisoners who would stand there awaiting a trial that would never come to be. Inside of the court there was the Ladder of Freedom with the rungs fashioned out of each step in the struggle against apartheid and the end of it once and for all. First there was iron to represent the slavery in the mining industry that started the beginning of inequality in South Africa, then there was intertwining red and white stripes to represent the constant back and forth between battles and peace treaties (the brokenness of the country), then an elephant bone to represent memory, then a snake to represent wisdom. The bottom rungs are all wrapped in barbed wire to indicate the entrapped feeling of the black and colored South Africans during this time. These were all aspects that would have completely gone over my head. It is as if everything is a symbol to the struggle.

  I also noticed this at the Hector Pieterson Memorial in Soweto, where the water running down through the troughs in the pavement were all the tears shed by the children involved in the fateful protests on June 16 (Soweto uprising against the apartheid regime) resulting in the deaths of innocent school children. Also the gaps in the brick wall at the top of the memorial represented the incomplete and inadequate effort of the adults responsible to protect those who are most vulnerable (children), making the measure of protection that was supposed to be there incomplete.

     These aspects of the two memorials are so inconspicuous yet so vital to the effectiveness of the point/remembrance that they are aiming for. I personally felt that the subtlety was beautiful. I also think that the ways in which the art tells such a story so hidden in its own details exemplifies how meaningful art and artistry is in this particular culture. Even walking around the city of Johannesburg there has been an immense amount of artwork all around. A ton of buildings have murals painted on the sides of them, as well as the walls next to the sidewalks. It is so incorporated into the space now and valued so much by the people that live there; it’s built into the foundations.
     A big contributor to this artistry is in fact the birth of Maboneng. Although there are differing opinions about the effect of Maboneng on gentrification of downtown Johannesburg, I think it is a vital part of the reconstruction of the city, which is the art revolution. The Cosmopolitan building as well as all the murals have brought a lot of attention to the current artistry and have allowed people the opportunity to establish their “right to the city”. It allows the people of the city to make their mark, and claim the city as their own again through the free expression of themselves. What I also liked was how much new art is being added everyday. While going on our walking tour through Maboneng, our tour guide explained how he could walk the same streets every week and see something new every time.

     I also think it is vital in the widespread efforts being put forth to reconstruct the post-apartheid city because it brings a certain modernity and beauty to a place that was so ravaged and plagued with injustice and bloodshed at the hands of those in power. I think that this effort to transform the landscape is an amazing initiative because it allows the surrounding community to really have a hand in the transformation of their “new” city. It has become a place of artistic expression and freedom, which is truly fascinating. It goes to show that sometimes all it takes is a new perspective on how to make a bad situation better and more bearable.