 CABLEWAY
REVEALS A NEW SKIN ON ITS BIRTHDAY
October 2007
To mark the 78th birthday of Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company
and the 10th anniversary of the rotating cable car, the Cableway
unveiled two gigantic new murals flanking the gateway to Table Mountain,
at the Lower Station entrance on Thursday October 4.
The murals were created by contemporary art initiative CitySkin,
headed by artist Dathini Mzayiya. He was selected as part of a competition
run by the Cableway where local artists were invited to enter their
proposals for the decoration of the 7.95m by 1.83m walls. A group
of ten art students from the Arts & Media Access Centre were
used by Mzayiya to assist in painting the murals.
 The
murals are a reflection of different aspects of the mountain - the
protea, the aloe, the sea, the sunset, the flora and the fauna.
When one looks at the murals straight on, one can see Table Mountain
towering ahead, with the murals framing it on either side - the
left mural a view of Devil's Peak and the right of Lion's Head.
Each mural consists of dozens of mosaic-style paint blocks.
"We wanted to mark the Cableway's birthday and the 10th anniversary
of the new Cableway in a meaningful way," said Sabine Lehmann,
Managing Director of Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company. "Art
should be a significant aspect of any public space. Dathini's new
murals add to the visitor experience whilst not detracting from
the enjoyment of a natural World Heritage Site."
 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 refuges for orphans
and underprivileged children.
"I had 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. "The
work offers the viewer two visions from within the veil of the shadow
of the mountain. We see the world from the perspective of two vantage
points along the Plattekloof passage. The towering horizon line,
a radiant twilight colour range and a deep foreground of intricate
colour combine to convey the sense, so familiar to Capetonians that
everything in life passes under the timeless, austere watchfulness
of the mountain."
The Cableway will hold this competition every two years in order
to keep the murals fresh and contemporary so Mzayiya's work will
be displayed until 2009.
For information visit www.tablemountain.net
or call (021) 424 8181.
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