The City of Cape Town, in partnership with Mosaic Work, is giving youths from Manenberg and Gugulethu an opportunity to showcase their mosaic artwork on the facades of the new housing units.
The inspiring artworks, next to the Housing Estate office in Manenberg, face Govan Mbeki Drive and will be visible to the wider community. The artists, aged between 18 and 30 years, were selected from the Expanded Public Works Programme database and include two community members with hearing impairments.
The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Transport and Urban Development, Councillor Brett Herron, visited Manenberg on Tuesday, 17 April 2018, to see the artwork of the young artists involved in this project.
The Manenberg Housing Project is a People’s Housing Project. The work is done in close collaboration with the Support Organization, which helped facilitate the liaison with the beneficiaries who agreed to have the murals on the walls. The purpose of the project is to add creative detail to the housing development that is currently being built in Manenberg, and to train community members from Manenberg and Gugulethu in creating mosaic art.
The beneficiaries of the new housing project in Manenberg where the murals are located, were actively involved in the designs that are beautifying their neighbourhood. The housing beneficiaries worked closely with the artist that designed the murals.
The artwork is the brainchild of the team who also created the mosaic art installed at the entrance and exit doors to the Cape Town Civic Centre in 2016. Three ladies from the original project who showed great promise and enthusiasm have subsequently been included by Mosaic Works on several new private commissions. The new job opportunities have increased their skill levels and provided an income for the artists and their families.
‘Through this initiative, we have invested in both this new neighbourhood and in the young people from the area. The mosaic murals, made with love by fellow community members, define and beautify our new housing project. The artworks are visible from the nearby Govan Mbeki Drive and pay tribute to the history and heritage of the neighbourhood. While creating these murals, the young artists are empowered with new skills that can help them in the future. As an added bonus, the murals need little to no maintenance once installed,’ said Councillor Herron.
On the current Manenberg project, the youths are currently busy with installation work for the first phase of the project. The murals for the second phase will be done once the construction of the rest of the houses on the site is completed.
The training and installation costs, employment costs, the service provider’s fees, and materials for the first and second phase amount to approximately R260 000. The young artists received on-the-job training and a stipend from the City while working on this project. The themes for this project are the South African flag; dominoes – a popular game in the neighbourhood; and jazz culture as a tribute to the old jazz clubs in Manenberg.
A total of six murals measuring about 60m² that were created in several panels of different shapes and sizes, will be installed as part of this project.
This project builds on the City’s Organisational Development and Transformation Plan which aims to create an inclusive and opportunity city for all:
- the initiative offers opportunities for apprenticeships and other forms of employment to prepare and equip young people for the working world, thus, training to ensure our youth are able to participate in the economy.
- having members with hearing impairments on the team speaks to the City’s commitment to building inclusive communities, as well as providing opportunities to all
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