The Ambassador of Denmark, Tobias Elling Rehfeld recently launched three large public art murals in
the Pretoria city centre in collaboration with the City of Tshwane, City Property and Kalashnikovv
Gallery.
One of the three murals was done by Visual Artist, Lisolomzi Pikoli. He said his piece portrays how
people need water to survive and how the mismanagement of water can put them in an unfortunate
situations like floods or droughts.
Io Makandal, who created the second mural, said her theme is also about water. “I was thinking
about the environmental impact that rainfall has on cities because of the way they are structured;
with their concrete landscapes which affect the ecosystem and the natural flow of water,” Makandal
said.
The artist who made the third mural, Isaac Zavale, said he is using his work to tell the public about the importance of renewable energy. “I decided to use solar panels because most people can
identify and engage with them, and I target more viewers from the townships through the artwork,“
said Zavale.
“Art has the power to change the everyday environment that people live in, as well as their perceptions about important issues such as climate change and renewable energy,” said Rehfeld. He highlighted that the Embassy of Denmark partners with the South African government on a number
of green energy and water projects.
“Since 2017, we have had a collaboration on sustainable urban development with the beautiful City of Tshwane and the City of Aarhus in Denmark. The launch of the public art murals is about something that is very close to my heart – art, and the planet we all walk on. A planet that we have
to pass on to our children one day,” said Rehfeld.
He added that the project gave the embassy and its stakeholders an opportunity to reach out to a group of young up-and-coming artists in SA and give them a canvas and a voice to express themselves.
Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane, Randall Williams said a project-based memorandum of understanding was signed in September 2017 by the cities of Tshwane and Aarhus. They agreed to collaborate on issues such as city planning, environmental sustainability and eco-buildings.
