April 25, 2003
By Mandisi Majavu
RAND WATER will be celebrating its centenary in May with art. For the past month, it has been commissioning artworks inspired by the concept of water from professional artists, emerging artists and art students from around Gauteng.
The rationale behind this project "is to create an appropriate legacy as a reminder of the history and heritage of the provision of water", says Maggie Letsoalo, a general communications manager at Rand Water.
The project aims to collect 25 original artworks commissioned from professional artists, as well as work by students from four art schools: Pretoria Technikon, the Funda Centre, the Johannesburg National School of the Arts and the Fine Art Department at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Some of the professional artists commission for this project include Mbongeni Buthelezi and Loren Kaplan. Buthelezi is working on a mural that aims to show the role of water when it comes to sports while Kaplan is building a drinking fountain.
Mbongeni Buthelezi (left), one of the professional artists commissioned by Rand Water
The artworks do not necessarily have to be pictures or sculptures, but may include music, song or poetry. The staff at Rand Water will also contribute by working with a professional artist to create an artwork made up of chosen elements from the archives of Rand Water.
Apart from celebrating Rand Water's 100 years of the provision of clean water, the company will donate funds to the four educational institutions involved.
Wits students are producing a television programme that will document the entire process. A five- to seven-minute trailer of their work will be presented at the Rand Water gala centenary dinner on 22 May, along with presentations of the artwork.
The idea to commission artists in celebrating the company's centenary, says Letsoalo, is to "ask local artists to use their creative and imaginative talent to make us all more aware of the wonders of water that many of us take for granted".
