NOKWANDA NCWANE
Pretoria - Murals to highlight Pretoria’s unique strengths and biodiversity will be the order of the day when the annual Feast of the Clowns festival returns this year.
Hosted in collaboration with the Tshwane Leadership Foundation, the festival was launched at a mural art workshop at Burgers Park. The first mural forming part of the festival was unveiled.
The theme this year is “The Courage To Be” and all other activities through the next few weeks will consider this angle.
The first one to be unveiled was Vektor Productions muralist Johnny Allisson’s artwork. Courage To Be aims to tackle the theme of bravery by highlighting three separate figures as three symbols/archetypes of courage – The Impaired, The Elderly and The Creators.
“This piece consists of birds in full flight and a sweeping languid river flowing upwards to the sun while connecting all of them. This sun is repeated three times to symbolise how this power is above us, behind us and in us,” he said.
Allisson added that it was important to highlight the unique strengths of Pretoria and it’s incredible biodiversity since the mural sits on the Tshwane Leadership Foundation headquarters.
“The artwork emphasises the city’s beautiful architecture, its diverse and incredibly rich culture. It brings light to the environment which encourages a harmonious state of being.”
Victoria Boshoga, from the Tshwane Leadership Foundation, said 10 murals were being produced in 10 different inner-city sites and buildings, and all of them would officially be unveiled on October 16.
Amy van der Walt from Vektor Productions said the rest of the murals will be painted within the next two weeks in preparation for Community Day on October 9.
“On this day, the community relevant to the wall that is being painted will get the chance to also paint with the artist. In this way the community can take ownership of the walls that have been placed in their immediate environment.”
Among artworks to be showcased is Sakhumzi the clown, who was yesterday to take participants through the use of clowning to create awareness, encourage advocacy and create flash mobs.
Citizen-based participation, the courage to speak up and the role of arts in community work will also be featured across the city as part of the festival.
Pretoria News