August 20, 2007
By Millicent Kgowedi
A NEW public artwork has been installed in Braamfontein, heralding the entrance into the city - at 5,5 metres in height and weighing 20 tons, the concrete Eland stands at the corner of Bertha and Ameshoff streets.
It was set in place at the Gateway site on Saturday, 18 August. Work began at 8am and finished almost 12 hours later at 7.30pm. It is a project of the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) and the Braamfontein Improvement District.
"We had a very early start and the installation was very successful," said Stephen Hobbs, a director at Trinity Session. "We did not have any problems throughout the process. No legs were broken when the piece of art was lifted up by the engineers and other people working on site."
An eland in Braamfontein: Clive van den Berg's sculpture is erected on the Gateway site
The Gateway project is managed by Trinity Session and a committee of advisers that includes the City's department of arts, culture and heritage services; the Johannesburg Art Gallery; the Wits School of Arts; and paper company Sappi. Trinity Session is a contemporary art production team that runs The Premises, the Johannesburg Civic Theatre's art gallery.
Artwork on the Gateway site was guided by the Braamfontein Art Committee and managed by Trinity Session.
A crowd of about 80 people gathered to watch the installation. "This number is a combination of invited guests and the people passing by."
Designed by artist Clive van den Berg, Eland was selected from submissions from five artists, invited to take part by the Braamfontein Art Committee. They were Van den Berg, Retha Erasmus, Churchill Madikida, Usha Seejarim and Jeremy Wafer.
"Eland is huge and noticeable; we had one guy who was driving past and saw this big piece of art. He stopped in the middle of the street, causing a jam, to watch what was going on," Hobbs said.
The artist was on site during the installation; he remained calm and collected throughout the day. "Clive was very proud when Eland went up without any challenges. He was very relaxed throughout the day."
The regeneration of Braamfontein, led by the JDA, is transforming the area into a flourishing precinct in which offices, shops and residential space is in high demand, and vacant buildings are virtually non-existent.
Eland will be secured, with security guards on the lookout. "People don't necessarily vandalise public art. The tree sculptures that were installed are still in good condition," Hobbs said.
Lael Bethlehem, the chief executive officer of the JDA, said that Eland placed a large representation of the antelope on a corner from where live buck had long since disappeared. "This slightly forlorn image of a majestic animal will bring beauty and grandeur to a busy place. I hope it will also be an emblem that prompts reflection on our relationship to the past, and to the interconnectedness of environmental, cultural and spiritual destinies.
"The Braamfontein Gateway … is a busy connector of our lateral geography of memory and the spirit," she added.
The Johannesburg metro police department helped direct the flow of traffic during the installation, diverting cars from Ameshoff Street. "We didn't have any heavy traffic, cars would be packed for a few seconds and then flow thereafter," Hobbs added.
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