Cape Town’s trendy Bree Street has been enhanced with 10 vibrant murals thanks to a creative initiative that promotes the work of local street artists.
Public art has the power to regenerate the urban landscape, adding meaning and character while promoting the arts and tourism.
Nowadays, cities all over the world are peppered with breath-taking murals, and the Cape Town Central City is no exception. Recently, at least four striking murals have popped up in Upper Bree St on the site where Africa’s first biophilic building, The Fynbos will be constructed.
These bold, colourful, and attention-grabbing works are adding a much-needed vibrancy to a dull part of the tree-lined street, speaking to social ills such as gender-based violence while at the same time providing welcome inspiration and joy. One mural, which depicts a woman, has the words “A symbol of hope” while another has colourful wings and bright sunflowers accompanying the words “End GBV”.
MURALS ENHANCE SITE
The murals were commissioned by Lurra Capital, the developer of The Fynbos, as part of a competition, and 10 artists were invited to enhance the exterior of the boarded-up site before the existing building is demolished in January 2022 and construction of The Fynbos begins, confirms property practitioner Keagan James.
“The artworks will be adjudicated, and the top three artists will be commissioned to paint the lift wells of The Fynbos once it has been built. The winners will each paint six floors,” says James. He adds: “Murals are a great way to attract locals and tourists which in turn, can potentially boost the economy. One of the artists, Juma, does street art tours around Cape Town and he will be including the new murals in Upper Bree Street as part of his tours.”
Artists who have done wall art so far are Mac, Juma, Skubalisto and Bushy.
An artist's renditon of what will be Africa's first biophilic building, The Fynbos, in Bree Street.
A GIFT TO THE CITY
Cape Town visual artist Skumbuzo Vabaza, known as Skubalisto, says painting his murals allowed him to reconnect with his art “in a pure way” and to give back to the city in which he was raised.
“My aim was to create murals that acted as symbols of hope; images that would take the viewer away from the hysteria caused by this pandemic. I wanted to give them some time to breathe, reflect, love, smile and feel anything but the fear that has been pumped into our collective subconscious,” he explains.
The Zimbabwean-born artist is represented by the Everard Read Gallery and is currently featured in a Cape Town group show which celebrates the venue’s 25th anniversary. He creates portraits in a contemporary expressionist style, both as murals and canvas paintings, and his preferred mediums range from spray paint, acrylic, oil pastel, charcoal, and ink.
Chad Hanning, known as Bushy, is another featured artist in the initiative. The Cape Town-born mixed-method artist has previously been part of the International Public Art Festival (Ipaf), Africa’s largest public art festival organised by Baz-Art. The organisation says his style “ranges from playfulness to satire with cartoon-like illustrations turned into entire murals in ebullient colours, fluid lines and humorous shapes”.
The five-storey mural recently created in the communal area at The Felix, formerly Picbel Parkade.
STREET ART IN TOWN
Besides these artworks, the Cape Town Central City is home to various interesting murals and there has been a concerted effort to promote wall art.
In 2019, Boxwood Property Fund unveiled a massive mural on its building on the corner of Strand and Loop streets. It featured a surrealistic lighthouse painted by Ukrainian street artist Aleksandr Nikitiuk, Ukrainian and South African artist Tatiana Hurn, and South African artist Stephen Ajobiah.
At the time Rob Kane, CEO and chairperson of the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID), said they were “very keen to liven up the streetscape as it creates an interesting environment and Cape Town is now ready to up its game”.
He has since enhanced another Boxwood Property Fund building, The FELIX (formerly known as Picbel Parcade) with large murals to create an innovative office environment. According to a recent CCID article, the lively giant mural of a tiger and a polar bear were done by Woodstock artists.
Other prominent murals in the Cape Town CBD include the dog in the East City. It was reportedly completed in 2018 by Belgian street artist Bart Smeets. The CBD’s Longmarket St also boasts wall art by artists Awe Migo and Marti Lund that pay tribute to the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and the late Nelson Mandela.
With the benefits and role of wall art well documented, the Cape Town CBD and its users can only benefit from striking artworks in public spaces.
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IMAGES: CCID, The Fynbos