1. Writing on
the wall
Although the distinction
between street and public
art has become blurred, the
main difference is that street
art is more rebellious by
nature, having been created
without permission, whereas
public art has been and
often is funded by the
government or business.
By 2040 Johannesburg is
aiming to be the biggest
street art city in the world
— unsurprising, if you
consider that it is one of the
fastest-growing
metropolises.
The cataloguing process
of Cape Town’s public art
revealed that there are
120 pieces of permanent art,
190 mural art pieces and
270 pieces of temporary art.
William Kentridge and
Gerhard Marx’s Fire Walker
sculpture in Newtown had a
budget of R1m.
The most expensive piece
of public art in Cape Town is
a section of the Berlin Wall,
donated to Nelson Mandela
and placed unassumingly in
St George’s Mall.
To honour Cape Town’s
legacy as World Design
Capital 2014, the local
government put out a call for
submissions for a piece of
public art to the value of
R100,000 outside the newly
renovated legislature at the
corner of Dorp and Long
streets in the CBD.The
winner from among the
77 entries will be announced
later this month.
PUBLIC ART (TO BE FILLED IN BY Bday) November 7 2014 Public Art (TO BE FILLED IN BY Bday) November 7 2014
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shaun.minnie@thecreativegroup.info BusinessDayA PUBLICATION
EDITORIAL TEAM
Editor: David A Steynberg david.steynberg@gmail.com
Creative Director: Mark Peddle
ADVERTISING SALES
Michèle Jones michele.jones@pamedia.co.za 084 246 8105 (Sales & Marketing Manager)
Sarah Steadman sarah.steadman@pamedia.co.za 082 334 4367 JHB (Property)
Yvonne Botha yvonne.botha@pamedia.co.za 082 563 6685 JHB (Lifestyle)
Susan Erwee susan.erwee@pamedia.co.za 083 556 9848 (Western Cape)
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BusinessDayA PUBLICATION
LIFESTYLE
WORDS: GENEVIEVE PUTTER :: PHOTOGRAPHS: GENEVIEVE PUTTERAND SUPPLIED
F
or the cities of
Johannesburg
and Cape Town,
investment in public art has
never been more relevant.
Why, you may ask, when
both cities have more
pressing socioeconomic
problems?
The answer is that in
these cosmopolitan post-
apartheid cities, public art
is a means of establishing
some kind of social cohesion
and shared identity where
before there was none.
Public art enables us
to reflect on our fraught
history, provides a sense of
pride in our public spaces
and beautifies them and,
importantly, assists in
urban regeneration.
Johannesburg
CapeTownOngraffiti
JOHANNESBURG
The City of Johannesburg is
vigilant against unsolicited
street art, especially those
on Heritage buildings or
landmarks. It is generally
accepted that street artists
need permission from
building owners in order
to create work.
The public art portfolio
does, however, allow for
commissions of mural art,
and in the past few years,
particularly in Braamfontein
and Maboneng, some prolific
local and international artists
have created exceptional
works that add a beautiful
layer of aestheticism to
Johannesburg’s cityscape.
Most recently, a large
mural titled The Purple
Shall Govern, depicting
former president Nelson
Mandela, was created by the
internationally acclaimed
American artist Shephard
Fairey at 70 Juta Street.
CAPE TOWN
Cape Town’s graffiti bylaw
has been the topic of much
debate among the city’s
residents and the well-
respected crop of artists
whose murals fall within
its domain.
That Cape Town has been,
since before the demise of
apartheid, the city in SA
with the most entrenched
hip-hop culture, of which
graffiti is a pillar, is why the
bylaw has been such a hotly
contested issue since its
introduction in 2010.
But as councillor Garreth
Bloor says: “The various
murals around the city are
recognised as a valuable
form of public art and are
supported throughout the
city, within the parameters
of the bylaw.”
The best way to view public
art in the Mother City
is undoubtedly on foot:
the inner city, where the
bulk of the art resides, is
compact and easily accessible.
The city’s public artworks
are close to each other and
read like a history book.
Among the statues and
figures of Jan van Riebeeck,
Queen Victoria, Jan Smuts
and Cecil John Rhodes,
who represent some of
the darker periods of our
history, there are some awe-
inspiring, vibrant murals
by Capetonian collectives
and world-renowned street
artists Faith47, Falko
and Mak1. Included are
more permanent works by
prolific artists such as Brett
Murray and John Skotnes.
Cape Town’s public
art portfolio is managed
solely by the department
of arts and culture of Cape
Town, and as Garreth
Bloor — mayoral committee
member for tourism,
events and economic
development — says,
the number of permits issued
for public art installations
has increased from about
one a month in 2011 to
an average of five a week.
The city’s portfolio
is growing rapidly and
last year WikiAfrica, the
Africa Centre and the city’s
department of arts and
culture began cataloguing
all the city’s public artwork.
Their aim is to initiate the
development of an official
policy for public art in Cape
Town — the Public Art
Management Framework.
This is being reviewed
for implementation by
the end of this month.
But the city is also
committed to public art
initiated by artists from
outside the inner city,
including artists from
the local communities
of Observatory and Langa.
The latter is home to
the Icons of Langa Mural
Project, a collaborative
project designed to beautify
and upgrade the cultural
node in the township.
According to Kirsten
Wilkins, a freelance urban
designer who assisted with
the cataloguing process
of the city’s public art,
one of the worthwhile
outcomes of the process
was “spatially mapping the
location of these works,
which opened up the
question of where investment
in art is taking place.
“We knew it was
predominantly in the
inner city, but seeing that
spatially has certainly
elicited good debate on
how public art and public
space could be focused
on more broadly.”
Johannesburg’s sprawling
catalogue of public art
includes about 500 pieces
set all around the city, from
Braamfontein to Soweto,
including works by prominent
South African artists such
as William Kentridge and
Nicholas Hlobo. The city’s
approach is progressive
and well organised, thanks
in most part to the Public
Art Policy of 2006, which
stipulates that 1% of the
construction budget of all
major city building projects
of R10m or more must be
devoted to public art. These
funds are used to ensure
that a public work of art is
realised from start to finish
and is correctly maintained.
Driving this policy is the
Johannesburg Development
Agency (JDA), an entity of
the City of Johannesburg
formed to efficiently and
innovatively manage and
facilitate developments,
with the overall aim being
to build an impartial,
sustainable and resilient city.
According to the agency’s
marketing manager, Susan
Montanyi, the JDA has, since
its establishment 13 years
ago, invested R7bn in
projects that promote urban
regeneration, of which public
art is a major facilitator.
This portfolio includes
large-scale landmarks to
mid-scale and smaller works,
mainly in parks and squares,
as well as functional art.
The value of the city’s
public art has not been
officially calculated, but
considering the prolific
pieces by William Kentridge
and Gerhard Marx, Nicholas
Hlobo and Marco Cianfanelli,
among many others, it is
quite a high number.
Jo Buitendach of Past
Experiences, a tour company
specialising in walking tours
with a focus street and
graffiti art, says that the more
important question to ask
is, what is the social value of
In a country where many thousands have
perished and regimes have changed over
contested areas, SA’s public art discourse
offers special insight into how far we have
Going public
‘On an artistic
level for the
inner-city
communities,
it is incredibly
valuable’
Jo Buitendach, founder, Past
Experiences
The city is also
committed
to public art
initiated by
artists from
outside the
inner city,
including artists
from the local
communities
of Observatory
and Langa
the city’s public art portfolio?
“On an artistic level for the
inner-city communities, it
is incredibly valuable, as
many poorer children would
have no interaction with
art if not for public art.
“It is also incredibly
valuable as a source of
colour and regeneration
for the CBD and Soweto.”
There are some awe-
inspiring, vibrant murals
by Capetonian collectives
and world-renowned street
artists Faith47, Falko
and Mak1