City makes headway with Newtown wooden sculptures
JOBURG – The City of Joburg identifies the refurbishment of the 560 heads of Africa.
The City of Johannesburg has shown its commitment to renewing and rejuvenating the inner city.
As part of the City’s commitment, Community Development has identified the refurbishment of the wooden sculpted heads at the Newtown Cultural Precinct.
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“This collection of about 560 heads of Africa has been a distinctive feature of the Newtown Cultural Precinct over the past 15 years, attracting tourists from all over the world. Currently, however, many of the artworks are either missing or in poor condition, which discourages footfall to the precinct,” said Nonhlanhla Sifumba, MMC for community development.
Sifumba said a collection of artists is expected to refurbish the collection to its former glory as a part of the initiative to revive the inner city.
“Currently, a team of artists led by Americo Guambe, one of the lead artists involved in the original creation of the works of art is being assembled. The artists will be tasked with sculpting new heads to replace those that have been identified as missing or damaged beyond repair. At the same time the artists will repair and refurbish those pieces that are still serviceable,” added Sifumba.
She said the plinths for the heads in Mary Fitzgerald Square will be decorated with colourful mosaic designs and will be accompanied by a new information module that will highlight interesting facts about the project.
“The second phase of the project, which will be implemented in 2018/19, will see the work being extended to other parts of the Cultural Precinct,” Sifumba concluded.
