Over the last ten days since the death of Nelson Mandela, all South African flags, including the Great Flag on the Donkin Reserve, have been flying at half mast. Today (Sunday 15 Dec) Madiba was buried in his home town of Qunu in the Eastern Cape which means all flags will be fully hoisted from tomorrow on again. The Great Flag forms part of Route 67 and flies on top of the tallest flag pole in South Africa. At 65…
This morning the world woke up to the news that the father of a democratic South Africa, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela has passed away. I don't want to write a whole long post about him because every newspaper, magazine and news website there is will have his whole life story. I just want to say that on this day we shouldn't just mourn this great man, but also celebrate his life and what he did for peace in South Africa. May his memory…
The Mosaic Stairs from the bottom of the Donkin Reserve up towards the Great Flag at the top is lined with 34 Lights. Each light has a different object on top of it. The 34 lights represent the journey along the Voting Queue and Mosaic Stairs, telling a story about past, present and future. The lights form part of Route 67 and was a collaborative project.
Approaching the Donkin Reserve and Route 67 from the City Centre side, visitors can either walk up the Mosaic Steps or the winding Voting Queue path. The Mosaic Steps by a group of mosaic artists are quite interesting as it starts with dark colours at the bottom and the higher you climb the lighter and more vibrant the colours get. The steps with the different colours represents a journey that starts in the darkness and turbulence of the past, progressing to…
Although most people who go to see the art pieces on Route 67 just go up to the Donkin Reserve, the route actually starts down at the Campanile. One of the first art pieces one can see when down there is the Campanile Frieze by Mkhonto Gwazela. The frieze celebrates the indigenous heritage of Nelson Mandela Bay and the Eastern Cape through visual images cast into a curved concrete beam.
The Great Flag on the Donkin Reserve measures about 10 meters x 15 meters yet while its flying 65 meters up on the second tallest flag pole in Africa it doesn't quite look that size. That is until it gets taken down in the evening by the Prince Alfred Guard and needs six soldiers to catch, control and return to its container.
The Tower Sculpture at the bottom of the Donkin Reserve is one of the more peculiar yet interesting art pieces forming part of Route 67. The piece was designed by The Workplace Architects and acts as a beacon to announce the journey through the Donkin Reserve. It can be found at the start of the winding path and responds to its surrounding elements using the sun and wind to bring it to life. For this picture I stood underneath it…
Visitors to the Donkin Reserve admiring the 470 square meter mosaic next to the pyramid
I just can't get enough of Route 67 and all it's art pieces. There are so many possibilities for photographers looking for interesting angles and subjects. The Voting Line is one of my favourite pieces and for some reason I've only photographed it looking towards the lighthouse and pyramid. Visiting the other day there was a group of people walking past as I was standing by the base of the flag pole and I got to snap it from a…
The Bus Station Mural by 4 Blind Mice which forms part of Route 67 is probably the one piece which I would love to have seen somewhere else. Not because I think that it doesn't fit perfectly in the bus station, but because I would love more people to see it. Its colourful and vibrant and I absolutely love it for that. The mural celebrates public transport and the daily journeys undertaken by the people of the city.