Visitors and locals alike were treated to a range of innovative public art along the Fan Walk and in a range of public spaces during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
A highlight of the public art was the work of six craft producers from the Cape Craft and Design Institute who were selected to display work on St Andrews Square. The six produced large-scale street sculptures for the Fan Walk after being given the opportunity to interpret the theme of “A Trophy for Cape Town as the Best City in the World”. This they did in diverse and personal ways. These innovative pieces will remain at St Andrew’s Square in the Prestwich Memorial precinct.
Soccer fans walking near the Prestwich Memorial area of the Fan Walk were able to touch, explore and photograph themselves with the unusual street sculptures. The large-scale sculptures project was commissioned by the City of Cape Town and facilitated by the CCDI who put out the call for interested artists, designers and craft producers from its database and that of the Visual Arts Network of South Africa. Six ideas were then selected from more than a dozen applicants, with the creatives working long hours to complete their designs on time.
The artists and their works are:
Etienne de Kock: Dancing in a melting pot
Willard Musarurwa: Wired
Heath Nash: It’s beautiful here
Kommetjie Environmental Action Group: Full-cycle Tree
Felix Holm: Wind Tree
Conrad Hicks: Implements
CCDI played a crucial role during the World Cup period in terms of arts and crafts displays, with 82 craft producers showcasing the best of handmade Western Cape craft and design flair at the Cape Creative Exhibition in Green Point as well as the Fan Walk displays.
CCDI executive director Erica Elk said the large-scale street sculptures were “a hit” with Fan Walk visitors. “They were photographed a lot,” Elk said.
Another public art display which will no doubt end up in photo albums across the globe was the Zebra artworks display.
With the theme, “Not all is black and white”, the exhibition consists of 33 zebra artworks by 33 different artists. The zebras were moved around various public spaces for the duration of the World Cup tournament and are now gathered together in an exhibition at The Artscape Theatre Centre. Each zebra bears a unique quote by former President Mandela.
Curated by the World for All Foundation, the zebra installation is being displayed for the first time as one ‘herd’ on the Artscape piazza, until August 27.
The exhibition coincides with the run-up to the annual Artscape Schools Arts Festival, which takes place from 10 to 27 August at the Artscape Theatre.
Then there was the Flaming Vuvuzela. Fans and visitors from all over the world were treated to the amazing sight of a six-metre tall Vuvuzela shooting fireballs at Exchange Place in St George’s Mall.
The Vuvuzela, which was recently removed, proved to be so popular during the World Cup that people and organisations begged for it to stay put for a while.
Cleon Romano, who was responsible for its installation, said he is presently waiting to hear whether this will be possible.
“The response was nothing short of phenomenal. Whenever there was a match on, which was on eight occasions, we would operate it in flame mode, by attaching compressed gas cylinders to pipes that fed through the inside of the vuvuzela so that we could press a button at will, to activate the flame that would burst out of the top,” said Cleon.
