Artist completes installation off Durban coastline
An artist completed her third installation off Durban's coastline of the Great East African Rift pre- and post 2016 tremor.
THE end of August marked a phenomenal feat and third installation of the Migrating Bloodlines artwork for 75-year-old South African artist, Georgia Papageorge.
The Pretoria resident has spent the past 20 years dealing with notions of Rift and Schism that reflect the world we live in. Her latest work saw her complete her third Sea Cross installation this year, which was carried out at the lower end of the Great East African Rift off the coastline of Durban.
Earlier this year the first of the three installations was again in Durban , marking the Southern commencement of the rift that was installed in the Indian Ocean flanking the city of Durban. It was just nine days later, on 6 February that the Durban region’s epicentre experienced two major tremors that shook the entire Natal coastline, extending 100 kilometres inland. According to Papageorge, this was the Great East African Rift warning us that it is alive and will one day split Africa in two.
The second installation entailed Papageorge making her way to Europe with the next symbolic marking taking place on 11 May on the Northern extensions of the rift in a narrow five kilometre strait in the Mediterranean Sea between the Greek island of Samos and the Turkish coastline.
Having repeatedly manifested her work through the diverse use of a Mediterranean Cross made from red cloth and flotation rubber, Papageorge believes this symbolism acts as a marker of place and protective religious symbol combined with the geological phenomenon of the Great East African Rift which stretches 6500 kilometres from South to North. Commencing on the Southern Cape coastline of South Africa, the rift carves a route up Africa, creating the Red Sea Divide and ends its voyage in Syria and Turkey. This is the greatest visible tear on the surface of the earth.
“My work reflects a shifting contemporary world that has created thousands of fleeing migrants into Europe. They come from wide spread regions in Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. In the context of my work, this is a phenomenon that is both social, geological and spiritual,” stated Papageorge.
Her latest accomplishment is apparently by no means the end of this gruelling project. After years of planning and communication with the South African Council for Geoscience, hundreds of hours and almost as many volunteers to assist with the logistical and physical installation of these huge artworks of up to 40 metres in length and on the unpredictable and moving canvass of the ocean – this statement is open ended and progressive.
As far as Papageorge is concerned, in terms of possible future installations in the relevant regions there is still work to be done and all her installations will be supplemented with a developing video and artwork that documents the process and significance of each one.
For more information about the artist and her Migrating Bloodlines artwork, visit: www.innerrift.co.za
