The public artwork, entitled ‘Present Shapes’, is sited in Bonteheuwel. In the South African context, Bonteheuwel is one of the most socio-politically significant urban environments in the city of Cape Town. The community spirit of Bonteheuwel was referenced in the public artwork intervention by placing importance on the presence of the pedestrian in relation to the intervention. With reference to communication between the residents of Bonteheuwel, the project incorporated an art workshop with school students of the area as the key generator for the project. The social aspect of the site was of primary importance in the conceptualisation of the intervention.

The site of the artwork is Freedom Square, the civic centre of Bonteheuwel. It is located precisely in the centre of the town, and is the space to which all roads lead. Considered the jewel of the area, it is placed at the heart of the overall environment. The open square is delineated by civic buildings, some of which are commercial. The public library takes pride of place, and has a prominent platform or ‘stage’ upon which it sits. As part of the platform, there is a flight of stairs leading to a landing. Upon that landing, the iconic figure, political activist Ashley Kriel, would stand to address audiences and deliver his message during the Apartheid struggle of South Africa.

Working closely with the TERRA+ Landscape Architects, the public artwork design strategy as a layer to the landscape design. An installation made of aluminium shapes was masked onto a security screen in front of the library. The screen is a backdrop to the ‘stage’ in front of the library as well as the open square. The floor artworks on the square engage the pedestrian, whilst two painted murals by local artist, Shaunez Benting, consolidate another edge of the space. A key part of the public artwork intervention was its spatial function. The idea was to define the boundaries of the site and give depth to the space through the inclusion of colour as a counterpoint to the materials of the overall landscaping.

The catalyst for the design of the artworks was an art workshop held for the junior school students of the area. The artist considered this event as the public artwork in itself, a sort of artistic and educational performance. The library screen installation, floor artworks and murals are seen as by-products of the workshop. With Bonteheuwel having a challenging history of socio-political turbulence, the project focused on the present day outlook of the school students in terms of their spatial context. The colourful and playful nature of the artworks represents the artistic response of the school students to their environment.

The brief for the workshop spoke of the context of Bonteheuwel. Presented as aspects of ‘home’, the buildings, streets and natural elements (eg. trees) were linked to colourful shapes and shown to the students as ‘building blocks’ for a freeform collage. Although the response to context was important, it was the exercises in the principles of drawing (line, shape, proportion, composition etc) which was fundamental in the process. A second exercise saw the students trace shapes from an aerial photograph of Freedom Square. Again, brightly coloured shapes were encouraged, and each student had a wonderful interpretation of the space. The separate drawings (one per student) were gathered and placed together to form an overall image of the Bonteheuwel. The workshop was a joyous and meaningful event, and much inspiration surrounded it.

The artist then took the drawings from the workshop and used them as the basis for the design of the library screen installation and floor artworks. The first exercise, that of the colourful shape collages, was the basis for the library screen artwork design. The artist created a composition which represented a graphic summary of the artworks, incorporating the work of each student. The composition of this artwork communicates the spirit of the workshop. The library in front of which the screen artwork sits is a place of learning and socialisation. In the landscape architecture scheme, the platform or ‘stage’ in front of the library was carefully designed to give it a prominent position as a spacemaker on the site. The library screen artwork supports this notion conceptually and practically.

Landscape architects: TERRA+ Landscape Architects

Mural artist: Shaunez Benting

Photographers: Southland Photography and Bruce Sutherland