Creative Cape Town

@ CPUT building, Corner Darling and Keizergracht.
ONGOING

 I say, British Council,  that IS a surprise. Instead of extracting resources from foreign lands, you’re giving back to the former colonies.  And it’s not the first time, either. You’re developing quite the reputation for supporting the expansion of public art in city spaces. 

Perhaps it’s more appropriate, really, to say “well done”. Well done for contributing to cultural celebration and urban regeneration in Cape Town, well done for commissioning local painter and designer, Faith47, to find a wall in the inner city and rechristen it in her archetypal art.  Very progressive, if I might say so myself. 

Of course, true to her professional and creative nature, the artist rose to the occasion, or rather, carefully ascended a CPUT/City Council owned façade with a few assistants and gave it a nice, new face. We had to ask her about her thought process behind it, and the wider philosophy of love when the writing’s on the wall.

Faith47, your thoughts on this piece and its processes?

 “I fell in love with this wall because it is the space where the marches gather before they move to parliament . It’s an interesting space in the city, part of the District Six area that has since been developed, yet it still has a feeling of dead land somehow. I have my own ideas about the actual meaning or feeling of the work, but I would prefer to leave it open for interpretation. I do feel, however, that the wall should help in creating awareness within our council about the benefits of graffiti culture in modern cities.”

Which are?

“Well, graffiti is an international phenomenon that is present in cities throughout the world. Each city has a different relationship to the art form. The cities that clamp down on it and see it as a curse generally land up becoming cities where there is more vandalism as the youth have no choice but to work illegally and without support from the community.  And the cities that recognize the art form as something that can add to its identity and as being an integral part of its make up  tend to produce graffiti artists who do a lot more experimental and ‘beautiful’ work. 

“I think, in Cape Town, the general public accepts and supports this art form [except maybe for those in the richer suburbs] but unlike Johannesburg, the Cape Town City Council itself has, as yet, not been able to appreciate the value of the art form. 

“Galleries are mostly accessible to a select few, whereas street art is something that can reach and relate to a wider audience. In South Africa, and in Africa, this is something that can be very valuable to its creative growth and identity.

“Street art has become recognized within the international art world as a valuable movement. Examples of this are the painting of the outside of the TATE modern by Os Gemeos  jr , Blue and Sixeart as well as the groundbreaking show planned for MOCA in April next year which further solidifies the recognition our movement.

“Regardless of whether or not graffiti is recognized, it remains a powerful, organic,  ground-level movement that has captured the imagination of young people the world over and is now coming to fruition.”

Well, said, my dear lady, well said.