The woman and the chair

One of the art pieces installed on the Donkin Reserve as part of Route 67 is a woman standing behind a chair.  It’s become quite a popular piece with visitors climbing onto the chair for a photograph with this strange looking woman.  But why do I say strange?  This untitled sculpture by Anton Momberg takes the form of a female figure without any distinct features and clothing.  This leaves her neutral and open for conversation and interpretation rather than being…

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Aloe garden on the Donkin Reserve

The aloe garden on the Donkin Reserve in front of the lighthouse building forms part of Route 67 and contains aloes taken out on the reserve before the redevelopment took place.  The aloes are in full bloom at the moment making the garden particularly beautiful.

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The beautiful Donkin Reserve mosiac

It didn't take long for Route 67 to become a true Port Elizabeth icon and being situated on the equally iconic Donkin Reserve has become a must see to tourists visiting the city.  Even though the Voting Line and the Great Flag has become two of the most identifiable art pieces forming part of the route, the one that is photographed just as much is the Piazza Mosaic.  Covering 470 square meters the mosaic celebrates Port Elizabeth and the Eastern…

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76 Youth uprising art piece

Following Route 67 up from Market Square towards the Donkin Reserve visitors would see a very interesting art piece just past St Mary's Cathedral.  The 76 Youth piece was the result of a workshop collaboration and is a statement about the '76 generation and represents the spiritual journey undertaken by those who fought against oppression, specially those involved in the uprisings in the late 60's and 70's.  

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Mosaic patterns

If creating the 470 m2 Piazza Mosaic as part of Route 67 did one thing it was bringing vibrant colours to the Donkin Reserve.  The mosaic has so many different pictures and figures that I literally see something new every time I visit the Donkin.  One of the great things about it is the different angles you can look at it.  Either close up or from a distance with the third option being from the top of the Donkin Lighthouse.

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Mosaic steps at the Donkin Reserve

There are two way to walk up the Donkin Reserve from Chapal Street.  The first is along the winding Voting Queue path and the second is straight up along the Mosaic Stairs.  The Mosaic Stairs is a collaborative work by a group of mosaic artists and is an experiential journey that starts in the darkness and turbulence of the past (dark colours at the bottom) and progresses up to a new dawn and explosion (reds, oranges and yellows) of colours.  The…

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Anton Momberg’s Route 67 contribution

The untitled sculpture by Anton Momberg on the Donkin Reserve takes the form of a female figure without any distinct features and clothing.  This leaves her neutral and open for conversation and interpretation rather than being a conceptionally specific piece.  To me it also represents the women of Nelson Mandela Bay right from the early Khoi women who mined salt at Bethelsdorp, the Settler women who arrived on ships with their families in 1820 and Xhosa women who's men fought in…

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Donkin aloe garden

Some people see gardening as a form of art while others just try their best to keep the weeds out.  Few people know that one of the 67 art pieces on Route 67 is a garden.  Not a pretty arty garden, but a garden of indigenous plants, mostly aloes, saved from sites being developed around Port Elizabeth.

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The fishbone on Market Square

You often see chicken bones lying around in public.  More than likely left overs from a KFC meal dropped while eating on the go.  But what if you suddenly encounter a fish bone?  One bigger than yourself?  Well, then you either stumbled on what is left of a whale that washed up somewhere or you are standing on Market Square in Port Elizabeth.  The Fishbone art piece by Imbono FJA Architects is an architectural element intended to visually anchor the…

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