Elephant sculptures now belong to citizens, says artist
Andries Botha held a private launch of his completed elephant sculptures at Warwick Junction on Sunday.
ARTIST, Andries Botha invited his supporters who had campaigned to protect his elephant sculpture art work at Warwick Junction, to a gathering to launch the finished art work, on Sunday.
Speaking at the gathering, Botha said he was using the important occasion to commemorate the long journey, and the fact they had come to the other side.
“I wanted to get people together today who supported the investment of the elephants in the city. It is a significant moment as I wouldn't have been able to achieve this on my own, without the help of a multitude of people who aren't in the centre of focus. You all played a role in bringing about the completion of the elephants here,” he said.
He said when the city opposed the art work, people from a lot of different spheres, professional and personal, came forward to support the principle.
“Within the city we had people who were supportive and those who weren't. The legal fraternity stepped up to defend the principle as it impacted on the constitution, people stepped up to defend the principle. My team worked with me on the project and my PA Janine drove the campaign in the media. The media also stepped up like another estate to defend this and individuals on Facebook and Twitter campaigned. These people added the resources that I needed. I want people to know this is what it looks like to defend a principle. People must exercise their constitutional right to have access to works of art and culture,” he said.
Speaking at the launch, chief executive of the Human Elephant Foundation (HEF), John Charter, spoke about the foundation, which was started by Botha 10 years ago.
“This important event marks the end of a long and arduous struggle. The HEF's key purpose is to use public space art as a means to harness human imagination and creativity in order to bring about conversations about solutions to the massive threats to the planet which we as a species have brought about. The HEF now has a herd of close to 30 life sized African elephants created from recycled materials all over the globe, all having stemmed from what is an essentially Durban idea, which we can be immensely proud of. This magnificent creation which stands close to where the very last elephants were shot here in Durban around the turn of the century is in many ways symbolic of the triumph of art and creativity over political tunnel vision and self-interest and we sincerely hope our great city will see the completion of the artwork as an opportunity for unity and reconciliation going forward,” he said.
Andries said the elephant sculptures now moved from possession to the public space, and he had given them to the City of Durban, for public ownership.
“The elephants are now the property of the citizens of Durban and the City is legally obliged to protect this art work. The elephants are the guardians of the city now, a metaphor which has entered the public realm as a human environmental element,” he said.
He said a public launch would be held in February for the citizens of Durban to be able to get up close to the art work.
