July 18, 2005
By Tammy O'Reilly
A TALL metal sculpture will be erected at Uncle Tom's Hall in Orlando in a few weeks time as a reminder of the contribution Sowetan artists have made to the arts.
Many township artists have contributed to the arts but have never received the credit they deserve. Now, a project called Tribute to Courage is honouring these individuals, with the statue and a number of murals.
Belinda Hlaka, the curator of the project and a cultural officer in the City's art and culture department, says, "We chose Soweto in which to launch this project because many of the artists who lived here also contributed in their own way to the history of our country and to the historical development of arts and culture in this country."
Some of the Tribute to Courage artists with Steven Sack, the City's director of arts, culture and heritage
Tribute to Courage involves 25 artists, all over the age of 40, who live and work in Soweto. Like the artists being honoured, few of them have been able to crack the mainstream market.
It falls under Roads to Arts Alive, a pilot project that aims to find and promote untapped talent in the run up to the main Arts Alive event, which takes place early September.
Arts Alive
"Arts Alive is in its fourteenth year of existence. It's a project by the City of Johannesburg that takes place mostly in Newtown in the inner city of Johannesburg," explains Nomahlubi Simamane of Zanusi Brand Solution, the festival publicists.
"The festival caters for all consumer segments, and because art is such a subjective thing, we are aware that not everyone is interested in entertainment like dance and theatre."
This year R1,5-million has been allocated to developmental arts, including visual art, to support local artists and initiatives like the 969 Festival.
Steven Sack, the director of arts, culture and heritage services in the City, says that for the arts to become popular in Soweto, the very communities in which the artists live should be supporting them first.
"Charity begins at home. If the communities in which these artists live are not buying their art, then we cannot expect other people to buy their artworks. On the other hand, it is up to the artists to produce works of excellence."
Sculpture
The eight men commissioned to build the 3m high metal sculpture combined their ideas to come up with a work that will consist of three abstract human figures and symbolically placed squares and circles.
According to a press release, "The sculpture represents the world with all its beauty made by God. A semi-circle symbolises open arms ready to embrace.
"Three short, round shapes at the bottom and three, square cuttings at the top emphasise the words 'I love you', while three pole figures placed in front of the structure stand for the people of the world."
Ideas for the sculpture were not easy to find, says Hlaka. "It really took a toll on our artists. A lot of sweat and emotion went into coming up with an idea for a sculpture that fully honours the artistic talent that can be found in Soweto."
Artist Eric Mbatha, who describes the sculpture as "double life size", explains some of the challenges the group faced when working on a design. "We actually started working backwards. After a lot of thinking we came up with an idea that everybody liked.
"Then we realised that some of us were not sculptors and metal was even harder to use than a paint brush. So we had to get advice and help from an engineer."
On 1 August another eight artists will begin painting murals on the walls of the Dube, Phefeni and Orlando East railway stations, while the remaining nine will exhibit their own paintings.
All works in the exhibition will be unveiled on Tuesday, 30 August.
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