I find it amazing how different people cast their eyes upon such differing things while we commute through our city... Before Die-Swart-Kat started pointing out the wealth of urban art in Cape Town I was entirely oblivious to its presence...
Cape Town has hundreds of renowned attractions to offer the millions of tourists that visit the Mother City each year, but taking time to explore the lesser-known features of this city can be a very rewarding endeavour indeed. One such feature is the city’s “urban art”, which includes hundreds of graffiti paintings or drawings that partly cover buildings and walls all over the city.
Cape Town’s urban art makes a powerful statement in times of uncertainty and decay. And like most important things in life, it is available for us to value and appreciate without asking much more from us than to open our eyes and minds.
Graffiti works are generally seen more as a burden than as a form of art, but the majority of Cape Town’s graffiti artworks deal with current issues, concerns and public sentiment – the things that matter.
The urban art emerges out of the need to break the silence about the current realities. These unknown artists do not look for vivid and passionate supporters, but they might very well deserve such praise.
These paintings are the untold, unmentioned, unheard expressions of the collective South African voices. They may or may not have a directly visible message, but they certainly speak for themselves – they speak to define a new South Africa, where everyone can have their voice heard, even if they remain nameless.
See if you can spot the Kuala Bear and the source of the South Easter nearby