July 3, 2006
By Lucille Davie
THE three men stand silently at the highest point of Rissik Street, gazing towards the city's mine dumps. Their muscular bronze bodies reflect a dull green colour in the sunlight.
No more - those bodies are getting a protective coat by means of a process called repatination.
The three men, collectively known as the "Miners' Monument", were sculpted by David MacGregor and given to the city by the Chamber of Mines in 1964. Comprising two black mineworkers and a white supervisor, the monument symbolises the reason for the existence of the city - gold.
The repatination process - a surface chemical treatment - stops the bronze from staining green. It also prevents graffiti artists from leaving their trademarks on the sculpture.
Restorer Jim Bolt from Boltsons, who is in charge of the restoration, has sub-contracted the bronze work to Todor Karabounarliev, bronze founder of Art Tony.
Having already repaired odd cracks in the magnificent sculpture, Karabounarliev expects to finish the upper half of it by next week. He is leaving the bottom half in its green coating, he says, because when the fountain is restored, the water will cause the bronze to go green anyway.
Bolt is also restoring the surrounding walls and paving of the sculpture. He is chipping out old cracks and repairing them, making the concrete waterproof.
Almost 10 years ago the metal edgings of the light fittings and nozzle heads of the fountain that used to send a gentle spray over the men, were stolen by metal thieves. The final stage of restoration involves getting the lights working and the water flowing again.
Bolt says he'll restore these elements of the sculpture with new technology. A computer-controlled mechanism will be placed underneath the sculpture, entrance of which will be securely locked. The fittings above ground will be of a hard, plastic fabric, to deter theft, says Bolt. Guards at the nearby Civic Centre will keep an eye on the sculpture, and the lights will illuminate it at night.
This will not be done immediately, but in the next financial year, says Eric Itzkin, deputy director of immovable heritage in the City's department of arts, culture and heritage.
Four years ago the sculpture was in an even sorrier state. Metal vandals had sawed off the boot of one of the miners, and left a hacksaw blade in another leg. The bronze plaque at the base of the sculpture had also been removed.
A new boot was made by artist Sarel van Rensburg, from a mould of the boot from a neighbouring miner of the sculpture. The boot was welded on to the base of the statue to prevent it from being removed again.
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