Yet again Durban’s public sculpture program seems destined for embarrassment. Following swiftly on the heels of the 'Elephant' and 'King Shaka' escapades, the latest proposal for the EThekwini Municipality’s first 'Annual Public Sculpture Competition' seems equally fraught with poor management and political fumbling. And this before it has even been commissioned.

The proposal sent out countrywide asked for artists to conceptualise and produce ‘a public monumental artwork no less than 5 metres high’. However,...

Yet again Durban’s public sculpture program seems destined for embarrassment. Following swiftly on the heels of the 'Elephant' and 'King Shaka' escapades, the latest proposal for the EThekwini Municipality’s first 'Annual Public Sculpture Competition' seems equally fraught with poor management and political fumbling. And this before it has even been commissioned.

The proposal sent out countrywide asked for artists to conceptualise and produce ‘a public monumental artwork no less than 5 metres high’. However, that’s where the clarity ended. The brief itself is unstructured, unclear and filled with typos. The project is in fact open to artists living only in Durban (why the nationwide call?). Furthermore the brief asked for proposals to be handed in on 30th June 2011, with shortlisted artists announced on the 25th June (5 days before the proposal?). While this general lack of professionalism might seem nitpicky – the brief itself is equally untenable and bizarre.

The time frame given - proposals to be in by June 13 - marquette's by shortlisted artists by June 25, leaves artists just over a week to conceptualise a 5 meter sculpture. A sculpture that is required to:

• Add to the existing aesthetic hallmarks of the City (such as the Moses Mabhida Stadium). This work should serve as a major visual anchor that embraces the unique identity of Durban, and make a compelling statement about creativity and art in the age of numerous global changes. It must also enhance the status of Durban as a dominant cultural capital of the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
• Lend itself to being viewed as a compellingly appealing creation. This appeal should defy the passing of time and outsiders should wish to return to Durban in order to meditate in front of its grandeur.
• The work may possess both fine art and utilitarian qualities.
• The work should be accessible through the senses of sight, touch and hearing (a highly developed technology can make this ideal come true without being environmentally unfriendly - no strain on energy resources). The artist may even use the work as a simulation of the City clock tower, marking the spot as a directional device even for the partially sighted.
• The work must be durable enough to defy deterioration factors.

Furthermore the work needs to be built and unveiled by 23 September (Heritage Day) – a two a half-month time frame from beginning to end.

Quite a big ask. And all this with a 250k budget.

The briefing session by the new director of the Durban Art Gallery Mdu Xakaza provided little clarity. The first question asked 'is it site specific?' was answered 'Yes. But we don't know where'. Not too specific. Furthermore while the brief stated 'The winning artist will receive an amount of R 250 000. An appropriate production fee will be provided' – we were later informed that this was in fact the total fee. The entire process seems fraught with a lack of transparency – even the ‘adjudicating panel’ (a standard and transparent addition for all competition briefs) is conspicuously absent from the process.

With such a disastrous public sculpture record in Durban, surely it would have been prudent to consult someone with an understanding of public art and public sculpture to draw up the brief? There is clearly no conceptual or technical sensitivity to the process. Opening up a competition to art students and asking for a technically difficult 5 meter sculpture to be engineered is just ludicrous. The Braamfontein Gateway Sculpture commissioned by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), was done so in collaboration with specific art production teams such as The Trinity Session. Furthermore, the project was sent to specifically nominated artists - experienced and technically capable of actually pulling off the project.

One final request from the brief that 'The work should be controversial in terms of raising socially relevant issues that are often taken for granted. It should be forceful enough to kindle contestations around issues that are often treated as hot potatoes by ordinary citizens and those in positions of power' seems a little absurd. Given the fact that Andries Botha’s bronze cows are still wandering aimlessly around King Shaka International without any sign of the Zulu king, and the infamous ‘IFP’ elephants are still homeless – such a request seems a bizarre and avoidant political ruse.

The whole project seems badly handled, badly planned and badly thought out. Chatting to artist Greg Streak about the matter he had the following to say:

"I walked out of the briefing in disbelief. Who makes up this stuff? It appears that the "think tank" of the city is not particularly au fait with art in any form, and with particular respect to public sculpture. In fact, I don't think that they have any understanding of what an artist is as a professional entity within society. This briefing smacks of some sort of governmental directive to "create some jobs and get something to show for Heritage Day so we can be all cultural". It is an insult to professional artists, and reveals a complete ignorance of the process involved and furthermore reveals a lip service, tokenist attitude towards heritage and culture in general. When you put out a brief like this - what else could it possibly be? Fortunately, words written remain in history as a testament to particular positions. Unfortunately, once again Durban is the laughing stock nationally and again reinforces its label as being a cultural backwater. There are numerous individuals and entities within the city that can be approached to facilitate this process and attempt to drag it out of the very deep hole it has dug for itself. This should be done sooner than later. My attempts to meet and facilitate this process have gone ignored. Arrogance and ignorance are clearly a lethal combination."

The Annual Public Sculpture Competition seems another embarrassment in the ongoing saga of Durban’s farcical public art programmes.

Perhaps its time the EThekwini Municipality recognised that the process of artmaking is best done in consultation with artists themselves.