The National Arts Festival has come and gone this year, but the organisation behind it remains a part of the Grahamstown community while the fun and excitement of the festival sleeps. Ismail Mahomed, NAF director said they are committed towards endowing at least one permanent artwork each year to the city, and the St Mary's Development and Care Centre recently saw the unveiling of one such promise.
The National Arts Festival has come and gone this year, but the organisation behind it remains a part of the Grahamstown community while the fun and excitement of the festival sleeps. Ismail Mahomed, NAF director said they are committed towards endowing at least one permanent artwork each year to the city, and the St Mary's Development and Care Centre recently saw the unveiling of one such promise.
“The Dreamer”, a sculpture created by Eastern Cape artist Zach Taljaard, was unveiled amidst a day of fun, jumping castles, stilt walkers and balloons at St Mary's.
Taljaard won “Best Sculpture on Show” at the Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) Young Sculptor Awards competition in 2001 and has also done well in the competition in other years. His work focuses largely on the complexity of masculine identity and he has received much critical acclaim for his unusual and innovative installations.
Taljaard’s sculptures are made of solid concrete that reinforce images of strength and resistance. These images resonate strongly with the vision of St Mary’s because it aims to resist the social elements that impede children from becoming stable and strong individuals.
The children who come to St Mary’s are from some of the poorest communities in Grahamstown, and the centre offers them facilities to wash every morning before school and a warm breakfast. After school, they are served a lunch there and assisted with their homework. But St Mary's isn't just about education, it also provides emotional and physical support to the children and focusses on other aspects of their lives such as creativity, coping skills and more.
It was established 29 years ago by Dr Thelma Henderson, who also established the Centre for Social Development at Rhodes University. These two centres still maintain close links with each other, and St Mary's was identified as the recipient of the sculpture by PPC and the NAF who are also in a close partnership. The St Mary's Centre was chosen because of its significant contribution to the lives of South Africans in need, particularly children.
On behalf of the NAF Mahomed thanked PPC for supporting this project, and St Mary's for being their pilot partner. He said that they plan to continue to foster partnerships with schools and community agencies to act as custodians of the artworks. "The sculpture remains a permanent fixture at the [St Mary's Centre] as a monument of hope and inspiration to the staff, the children and the Grahamstown Community," said Mahomed.
