THE TOWER AND THE GLORY
The famed cooling towers of Orlando will soon be reimagined — thanks to three artists.
Rea Khoabane meets the artists changing the face of an Orlando landmark
SOWETO’S most prominent visual symbol is set for a makeover. The iconic FNB towers will be repainted soon, with Vodacom announcing the purchase of one of the towers.
In a cross-generational collaboration between living legends and aspiring artists, the project aims to enhance how South Africans tell their stories.
Artists Mmakgobo Helen Sebidi, 72, and Bambo Sibiya, 30, and illustrator Karabo Poppy Moletsane, 23, will work together to create a new look for the towers.
Sebidi says her dream is to tell the story of the meanings of a house in black South African culture. “I believe a house is what’s inside me and the hands that built it is the spirit — and that’s how I’m able to exercise the love and life on the land.”
Born in Marapyane near Hammanskral, Sebidi says she learned her style of traditional arts and craft from her grandmother as a young girl.
“My grandmother was good in everything that required her to use her own hands; she turned it into work.
“In apartheid times we didn’t have access to canvas, oil paint and brushes so we used our hands, mud and clay to create wall art and floor décor.”
Stressing the point that black people were put in houses that they didn’t build themselves, she says her consciousness cries for Africa — that people should live in houses their hearts desire.
Sebidi says she hopes her tower sketch will demonstrate how people’s dream houses would look if they were given the opportunity to build their own.
“Our people were given houses to live in. From my understanding a house is something that comes from inside and you build with your own hands,” she says. “[A house is] a reflection of your heart that you’re able to communicate with the world outside.”
Moving to Johannesburg at the age of 16, where she started out as a domestic worker, Sebidi’s artistic career began when her employer encouraged her to pursue her dream of becoming an artist.
Born in 1943, today she is one of the celebrated 21 Icons, and will be guiding and mentoring Sibiya and Moletsane through the murals that will be displayed on the Orlando Towers.
Describing his style as “being able to be read on billboards and making statements”, Sibiya attended Benoni Technical, where he studied Fine Art and majored in drawing and painting.
However, his love of art started as a child, and as a teenager he was mentored by the late Paul Madi Phala at Mbira School of Arts and Music.
Sibiya learnt print-making, focusing on linocut and etching, which is one of the techniques he is using in his tower design.
His work is a meditation on women and children in his community, and through the Vodacom project his work will be accessible to more people.
Sibiya sells most of his work to corporates because, he says, most people don’t really like hanging serious artworks about social issues on their walls.
The artists went around the area to find out from Sowetans what they would like to see painted on the tower.
At 23, Moletsane is the youngest artist of the trio — and is thrilled that her work will adorn a canvas as big as the Orlando Towers.
A graphic illustrator, she believes she was selected to bring a digital approach to the art and attract the young market. With her work driven by an edginess and an Afropolitan aesthetic, she believes the two bring out youth — with the future in mind — and African heritage.
“I’m still trying to find my voice as a young artist. I draw inspiration from the different fashion styles, graffiti in the city and my immediate environment,” she says.
“As part of this amazing project, I will bring in relevant issues that affect young South Africans. This is one of the things I would like my work to explore.”
Originally part of a coal-fired power station built in the 1950s, the towers have become an entertainment spot for extreme sports such as bungee jumping, zip-lining and swinging.
Some extreme art will now be part of the experience. LS Vodacom in partnership with the Department of Arts & Culture’s Living Legends Legacy Project has asked locals from Soweto and surrounding areas to submit their artwork to be displayed on the iconic Orlando Towers.
To enter the competition, aspiring artists can download the application form at www.vodacom.co.za/SowetoTowers. Alternatively, they can collect an entry form and submit their artwork at the Jozi FM studios.
Terms and conditions will apply.