NMMU stands tall with ‘Madiba Shirt’
THE Madiba Shirt” – a 3m- high iconic sculpture – graces Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s South Campus, where it has become a popular backdrop for “selfies”, and a new place for students to meet.
The sturdy metal frame of the shirt has a “skin” of intricate wire designs and blue-and-white ceramic tiles which, if you look carefully enough, spell out NMMU’s values – Ubuntu, diversity, integrity, respect and excellence – values inseparable from the university’s namesake himself.
The artists behind the sculpture – NMMU School of Media, Art and Design principal lecturer, Mary Duker, and head of ceramics, Bianca Whitehead – have won the university’s Creative Arts Award, presented on Tuesday during the university’s Research, Teaching and Engagement Awards ceremony.
Unveiled in October last year, the shirt is the first public art work commissioned by NMMU’s Department of Arts and Culture, following a national call for submissions, which, fittingly, landed back on its doorstep, with Duker and Whitehead’s design short-listed among the final three, and their maquette (a small version of the proposed sculpture) selected as the winner by the project’s judging panel.
Included in the mandate for the project, was that it had to reflect the principles and values of NMMU and the role it plays in society; and be conceptually relevant to the university.
“We wanted the work to be a bright centrepiece in a student gathering place, a constant and inspirational reminder of the values embodied by the leader whose name NMMU bears, and a celebration of being African,” Duker said.
Working closely with Whitehead, the pair developed a vision to weave materials that are craft-related (such as wire and ceramic tiles) into a sculpture that also used traditional material, such as bronze, marble and cement.
The vision was developed further when the team set out, with guidance from local architect and designer Roland Luders, to employ leading-edge fabrication approaches, including computer-assisted design (CAD), machine-tooling and laser-cutting, alongside handcrafting in both wire and clay.
The two lecturers were determined to involve their students in the sculpture’s construction.
“We wanted a collective of students to work with us. We wanted their voice to speak through the sculpture,” they said.
“Communal making also links to the African way of making – which is different to the Western way of making, where there is one grand artist and several apprentices, who have no sense of ownership.”
Duker said the craft elements gave the sculpture a sense of interactiveness – at night, under spotlight, it casts long, filigree shadows, while the daylight reveals its blue and white tiles and glistening wirework – rather than a solid, serious sculpture that just stands there.
The frame of the shirt was cut “like a flat pack – it looked like a set of ribs”, which then had to be welded together.
It was then transported to the ceramics courtyard on NMMU’s Second Avenue Campus, where Whitehead commissioned a team of postgraduates, led by Mellaney Ruiters, to make flat tiles with letter designs.
The wire design work was led by postgraduate Jonathan van der Walt. His team included under-graduate students Sarel Venter and Amos Ragophala, both of whom create wire sculptures in their spare time to earn extra money, as well as Michelle D’Urbano and Isso Jafta.
“Once we had covered the cost of the project, the profits were shared on a pro rata basis, according to the amount of work each student completed. This is all part of building a creative economy,” Duker said.
The installation and launch of the shirt coincided with the launch of the nearby Beyers Naude Garden of Contemplation, which took place at the final lecture in the university’s three-year Beyers Naude lecture series.
Guest speaker for this event was former president Thabo Mbeki. Struggle activist Rev Frank Chikane was also in attendance.