The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company has chosen Cape-based artist Dathini Mzayiya to create two new gigantic murals at the entrance to the Lower Station.
Mzayiya will be working closely with CitySkin, a network he founded, consisting of local contemporary artists devoted to creative transformation of public space.

“I have two primary goals for this project: firstly, to engage the viewer actively both as an individual and a member of a trans-national community; secondly, the work should highlight Table Mountain as the international icon that it is,” said Mzayiya.

Mzayiya has exhibited in South Africa, Ethiopia, Austria, Switzerland and Germany. He is the founding member of the Gugulective, an arts, culture and open education collective and is vice-chair of Hope for the Children, an organisation that provides farm refuges for orphans and underprivileged children.

The Cableway approached various art schools and centres for South African artists to submit proposals for the decoration of the 8m by 2m walls. Mzayiya will take home R30 000 and his work will be displayed until 2009.

The existing murals were completed over seven years ago and the cableway will hold this competition every two years to keep the murals fresh and contemporary.

“Art should be a significant aspect of any public space. We felt that Dathini’s mural would add to the visitor experience whilst not taking anything away from the experience of a natural world heritage site”, says Sabine Lehmann, CEO of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company.

The new murals will be unveiled on October 4 this year to coincide with the Cableway’s 78th birthday.

Labels: Dathini Maziyaya