Starting on Belmont Terrace right in front of the (unfortunately closed) King Edward Hotel and leading onto the Donkin Reserve is the Welcome Carpet art piece. This Route 67 art piece by Lisbet Demeyer is a Quartz Carpet with inlaid bead artwork and acts as a welcoming celebration of the Eastern Cape's cultures, leading the diverse visitors to the Donkin Reserve onto the park.
After yesterday's post of the bus station art, we are staying on Strand Street under the freeway. Ten art pieces called Identities by artist Lubhi Mtathi can be seen on the freeway pillars. The series are all powerful and evocative portraits that depict young South Africans from a range of cultural backgrounds dispelling racial and cultural stereotyping.
Everybody who has taken the bus into town and gotten on or off in the downtown bus station would remember how dark and dodgy it used to be. Since it's been opened up as part of the Strand Street and Route 67 redevelopments things have changed a bit and its a lot more open and lighter.Adding even more colour and cheerfulness to the area is the Route 67 Bus Station Mural by 4BlindMice celebrating public transport and the daily journeys…
Route 67 has some very distinctive art pieces, some easily identified for what they are and others a little more abstract. At the bottom of the Donkin Reserve at the start of the winding Election Queue walkway stands the very abstract tower sculpture. The Tower Sculpture acts as a beacon at the start of the journey onto the Donkin Reserve. The design allows for the tower to respond to the surrounding elements to allow wind and light to bring it to life. …
Is it a surf board? Is it a sail boat? Is it a seat? Well, its kind of a combination of the lot. Windward is one (or rather three) of the art pieces forming part of Route 67 on the Donkin Reserve. The shape of the sculptured benches hint at Port Elizabeth's nautical history while the title refers to city's "Windy City" nickname. The seats are made to look like a combination of a surf board and a sail boat…
Everybody who visits the Donkin Reserve is in awe of the huge 470 m2 mosaic next to the pyramid. Very few actually notice the frame of mosaic blocks surrounding the base of the lighthouse. The mosaic blocks is a celebration of symbols and icons within Port Elizabeth and its surrounds referencing various stories, personal ideas and journeys. One actually have to spend some time and look at each one individually to really see what they are about and to appreciate…
Visitors to the Donkin Reserve may think the aliens have landed when they walk past the Fish-Bird art piece on the Donkin Reserve. The Fish-Bird is one of the art pieces forming part of Route 67 and was done by artist Mxolisi Dolla Sapeta. The sculpture represent the fish found in Algoa Bay which is visible from Donkin and the birds found on the Reserve itself. The Fish-Bird has "landed" here to take ownership of this transforming site, making itself at home…
In November I hosted the #PERocks blogger visit to Port Elizabeth when I was still with Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism and I had the most amazing time with bloggers Rachel Lang (Bushbound Girl), Heather Mason (2Summers), Dianne Tipping-Woods (SA Tourism blog and more), Theresa Lozier (Fine Places) and Meruschka Govender (Mzansi Girl). I just couldn't get enough how how they did things differently from regular media. A lot more informal, a lot more fun and a lot more insightful. Here Heather…
There are two ways to walk up the Donkin Reserve from Chapel Street. The first is up the Mosaic Stairs and the second along a winding path that snakes it's way up to the lighthouse and pyramid. The path is called the Election Queue as it represents the winding queues on election day during the first democratic elections in 1994. It's the same walkway that skateboarders have discovered to be the ideal downhill run making it very much a multi purpose walkway.…
The Harmony of Nature art piece in front of the Athenaeum is probably one of the most interesting art pieces on Route 67. It uses an old optical technique used by master like Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo where a mosaic picture which looks distorted reflect perfectly in the metal pole in the middle of the picture. The image contains natural symbols of the Eastern Cape like the Blue Crane and Protea.