Pretoria’s cool sculptures
Pretoria is a city on the move – blending old with new. Works of art and bold new architecture are popping up throughout the city and are transforming Pretoria into a modern day metropolis.
Pictures and text by Charl Steenkamp
Pretoria’s landscape is changing and brand new works of art are appearing along sidewalks, intersections and public squares. As many of the new shopping complexes are opting for open planned squares, they too have become hotspots for new sculptures.
Here are but five of the many modern sculptures that can be see in and around Pretoria:
Adrift
Artist: Angus Taylor
Location: Waterkloof Corner Shopping Centre
Date: 2010
This granite sculpture was originally part of a “three heads design”, constructed out of Highveld grass by Angus Taylor. When he was commissioned to create a sculpture for the shopping centre, he took his idea forward and created a head using Belfast granite. In Adrift many individual stones were needed to create a whole, which forms part of the artist notion that “the part is as significant as the whole”.
The Udder Side – The upside down cow
Artist: Angus Taylor
Location: Irene Village Mall, Centurion
Date: 2007
This sculpture, also by Angus Taylor, was produced in collaboration with fellow artists Francois Visser and Steven Delport. It’s an “affectionate send-up of the dairy cow” – which is the unofficial symbol of Irene. The team knew the sculpture would attract playing children and they planned accordingly. The surface were pigmented and smoothed to resemble the animal’s skin and at the same time, allow children to safely slide over it. Gaps between the udder and legs were also widened to avoid a child’s limb getting caught in it.
Inside the //hapo museum
Artist: Clive van der Berg
Location: Koch Street, Salvokop – At Freedom Park
Date: 2013
The //hapo museum at Freedom Park takes visitors on a journey through South Africa’s past. This is done with the aid of many sculptures, artefacts and information pieces. The above piece shows “humans coming from the reeds” derived from an African philosophy of creation that acknowledges reeds as the conduit to life. The many sculptures are complemented and supported by audio, lighting and video infrastructure. The exhibition design was handled by artist Clive van der Berg.
The Knot and other sculptures along the A re Yeng bus stations
Artist: Sybrand Wiechers (for above sculpture)
Location: Ruth Mompati Station, Sunnyside
Date: 2015
Sculptures by local artists have been erected at each of the new A Re Yeng bus stations. At Ruth Mompati station (picture above) you’ll find The Knot by Sybrand Wiechers, which represents Sunnyside as “the knot that keeps us all together”.
The Spirit of Tshwane
Artist: Anton Smit
Location: Aramist Ave, Menlyn Maine – next to Nedbank Building
Date: 2014
This 11 meter sculpture was commissioned by Menlyn Maine and was part of a proposal to the Cool Capital 2014 initiative. The sculptor used the theme “We live together therefore we are interdependent” as one of the themes for the sculpture. The two main heads growing from each other shows this. The cracked spaces allows for light to pass through and symbolises growth. This growth are illustrated by numerous different small faces popping out of the cracks – they represent the people of Tshwane.