As the warm waves lapped the beach outside the uShaka Marine Education Centre over the weekend, a beautiful mosaic sculpture was unveiled by “Artivist” Natania Botha, to help the youth reflect in the importance of saving our oceans.
Durban, South Africa (11 June 2025) – In the bright coastal light of Durban, a new guardian has emerged, reflecting light and catching the eye of eager young minds ready to learn about the ocean and all the mysteries it has to unfold. This guardian is of mirrored mosaic, ceramic, and a powerful message.
Over the weekend, in honour of World Oceans Day 2025, a dazzling mosaic sculpture was officially unveiled at the uShaka Marine Education Centre. Titled Guardian of the Deep, the piece is the creation of South African artist and environmental activistn (or as we call her, an artivist) Natania Botha, whose striking work is changing the tide between art and advocacy.
At first glance, it’s mesmerising. But as you step closer, the message begins to reveal itself.
Blue mirrored fins glint in the sun, shaped to honour the endangered Bluefin Tuna, a creature fast disappearing from our oceans. The reflective surface draws you in, quite literally, forcing a moment of self-reflection. “What role do I play in the health of our oceans?” the sculpture seems to ask, quietly, insistently.
The clear mirror mouth is equally loaded with meaning, representing the transparency we so urgently need in how we engage with the natural world. Honesty. Accountability. Dialogue. These are the real-life building blocks of conservation, mirrored, again, in the fine shards that make up this extraordinary mosaic.
Its body carries a bold message: Save Our Oceans, rendered in bright stone and bordered by a swirling patchwork of tiles in blues, reds, whites and pinks. Together, they conjure images of coral reefs, teeming schools of fish, and the fragile, beautiful chaos that lies beneath the waves. It’s art as ecosystem, and ecosystem as art.
For Botha, the sculpture is more than a work of beauty, it’s a voice.
“This is a voice for the voiceless creatures of the sea,” she explains. “Their futures depend on the choices we make now. We’re all connected, what happens to the ocean, happens to us.”
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And in a time where the ocean often feels far away, even to those who live near it, this shimmering presence might just be what we need to bring its message back to the surface.
Because sometimes, to change the tide, all it takes is one piece of art, and the courage to listen to what the deep is trying to say.
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