Artworks mark the years Mandela gave to struggle
New Heritage Walk will open to the public on Friday, in time for Heritage Day on Saturday
As part of the Mandela Bay Development Agency’s Route 67 arts journey project, Port Elizabeth artists Gabriel Chaponda (back) and Bongani Njalo embarked on a creative campaign to paint the portraits of 67 ordinary men and women who have made the suburb of Central unique and vibrant. The murals are featured on the walls of the artEC building in Central and the artists have already completed 32 portraits. Pic: MIKE HOLMES. 13/08/2011. © Weekend Post.TWO years of planning, R11-million in the commissioning of artworks, and months of painstaking work by dedicated artists is finally about to be revealed to the Nelson Mandela Bay public.
The project, called Route 67, is a route which visitors can walk or drive, and runs from Central in Port Elizabeth to Uitenhage, and along the way shows off 67 various artworks depicting struggle icons and exhibits relating to the city’s heritage.
Spearheaded by the Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) – the municipality’s urban renewal arm – the project saw 67 local artists and students from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University commissioned to create 67 different pieces of artworks and mosaics.
Mxolisi Dolla Sapeta and Anthony Harris are two of the Bay artists commissioned for the project. Each artwork is a representation of a year Nelson Mandela dedicated to the struggle for liberation, and for a non-racial, non-sexist society.
Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism head Mandlikazi Skefile said the route would be opened at a time when the city was badly in need of a tourism boost.
“I am very excited about the launch of this route. It really adds to the tourism attractions in the city, and comes at a time when we are experiencing a decline in the city’s tourism attractions [Bayworld and the Apple Express have closed in recent months].
“The route speaks directly to our Nelson Mandela city brand. We have lacked such a product in the past,” Skefile said.
“Now people can walk the route which tells the story of our heritage. The beauty of this route is that it brings up the rich colonial history that we have as well. It shows two histories – the colonial history and the history of Nelson Mandela himself.”
The artworks can be viewed from the Campanile, the Donkin Reserve, the Athenaeum and South End all the way to Uitenhage and the Red Location Museum.