Public Art to bridge South Africa and the Netherlands
by Kresta Tyler Johnson
The significance of public art has regained attention as a cultural imperative for the revitalisation of urban centres in South Africa. It is only timely then that the Vrijplaats project should arise. Since 1997, the municipality of Tilburg in the Netherlands has maintained a city partnership with Lekoa Vaal (Emfuleni) in South Africa, and they have now opted to express that connection in the form of a public sculpture created for Tilburg by a South African artist.
The committee for public art in Tilburg, under the guidance of visual artist Rob Moonen, requested submissions from South African artists. The committee then identified three artists, representing at least two generations of South Africans who will travel in September, 2004 to Tilburg. The artists are Willem Boshoff, Doreen Southwood and Nicholas Hlobo who will spend six weeks in the city interacting with the local community and absorbing the surroundings, in order to create a final proposal for a work of public sculpture.
The projects's title refers to a "vrijplaats" or street sign, which expresses both the relationships between the specific areas of Tilburg and Lekoa Vaal as well as the countries of the Netherlands and South Africa. Tilburg is replete with street names from Dutch/ South African history such as Generaal de Wetstraat, and thus provides an ideal location for a public "sign" of solidarity, which reflects the ongoing relationship between the countries.
Moonen feels, "The critical component of this project lies embedded in the confrontation of a South African artist with the street names of a district of Tilburg. Here (in the Netherlands) the names have hardly any meaning, in South Africa they have stipulated the course of the history". One of the three artist's final proposals will be selected, and realised in mid 2005.
For further information please contact Rob Moonen at info@robmoonen.nl
