City of Johannesburg

Johannesburg Development Agency

No 3 Helen Joseph Street PO Box 61877 Tel +27(0) 11 688 7851 (O)
The Bus Factory Marshalltown Fax +27(0) 11 688 7899/63
Newtown 2107 E-mail: info@jda.org.za
Johannesburg, 2000

www.jda.org.za
www.joburg.org.za

To: All news editors

For immediate release
10 October 2019

BRT STATION ARTWORKS ADD COLOUR TO LOUIS BOTHA CORRIDOR

The Johannesburg Development Agency has had the honour of being the lead
implementing agent for the Rea Vaya Rapid Transit System (BRT) stations along the Louis
Botha Development Corridor.

As part of an ongoing commitment to public placemaking through arts and through

community-based co-production, the JDA appointed a curator and coordinator of a public
arts programme called #ArtMyJozi. Within this programme, community-produced artworks
have been developed for each BRT station along the Louis Botha corridor.
The Rea Vaya BRT stations public art celebrates the diverse stories that define Joburg and
its residents. Each Rea Vaya station features glass-engraved, original artwork that reflects
Joburg’s diverse population, echoes its vibrant energy, and mirrors and refracts its unique
architecture, colours, shapes and textures.

The art is about interconnectedness – between the network of stations as part of a holistic
system of travel, as well as between the stations and their immediate neighbourhoods,
always taking into account the people who live and work in the communities served by each
station.

The artworks are not merely an attempt to beautify the stations, but also to create
something of worth, embedded in the very structure of the stations, that engages and pays
tribute to the people who use the facilities on a daily basis.

To date, artworks have been implemented at the following Louis Botha corridor stations:

1. Hawthorne - 1 entrance (2 artworks by DuduBloom / Duduzile More)

2. Corlett - 1 entrance (2 artworks by Raymond Fuyana)
3. Lees - 2 entrances (4 artworks by Bramley Primary / Ububele Education
Psychotherapy Trust)
4. Clarendon - 2 entrances (2 artworks by Mario Soares, and 2 by Clare Appleyard)
5. Grafton - 1 entrance (2 artworks by Sandile Goba)
6. KES - 1 entrance (2 artworks by Odirile Mabaja)

Leading up to this point, there have been a series of open calls for submissions, and
numerous multidisciplinary workshops and exhibitions. In order for each station to reflect the
narrative of their respective neighbourhoods, a series of public participatory events were
held.

This began with an open call in 2017- calling on all residents and creatives to represent their
environments, journeys, networks, and dreams. The call was extended further on the
#ArtMyJozi and JDA social media platforms. This was coupled with public creative
exchanges and auditions over August and October 2017.

A resultant community exhibition was held at the Bus Factory (home of the JDA) from 6-11
October 2017. At this exhibition, visitors were further encouraged to contribute by writing in
a comment book and discussing the process with our facilitators.

Local arts networks were also directly contacted to participate in the process, such as the
Imbali Visual Literacy Project, Newtown Photo Workshop, Artist Proof Studio, and the
Curriculum Development Project.

Specific workshops were held with local pre-schools in Bramley and Kids Town, as well as a
workshop with 20 artists from Alexandra at the Roving Bantu Kitchen in Brixton. These
workshops gathered narratives that describe personal journeys and dreams, with the aim of
capturing them in more permanent interventions in the space.

The ArtMyJozi crew used social media as a marketing tool, as well as an unfolding
documentary process. The open calls were advertised and followers were encouraged to
contribute. Workshops and activations, as well as implementation at the stations were
recorded and shared online.

There was also a special photography challenge conducted over Instagram, whereby the
public could send in their photographs of their familiar environs the best of which to be
considered for implementation.

The above mentioned methods of public engagement resulted in 100 submissions, from
which a shortlist of works most viable for implementation were identified and considered by
the Placemaking through Art Steering Committee.

The chosen artworks were selected based on visual and written themes which connect the
corridors; such as journey and transition, identity and home, music / fashion / dance,
dreams, structures and landmarks, nature in the city, mapping, as well as history, heritage
and contemporary culture. The remaining artworks are accessible through the ArtMyJozi
archive.

For installation, the original artworks were digitised into vector images, and sent to the
sandblasting supplier. The supplier produced all vinyl stencils necessary for sandblasting
and application of 2K paint.

Each station has an artwork (in two sections) at the entrance, installed onto the glass and
steel panelling. The steps of this process are shown in the pictures below, using Hawthorne
Station as an example.

During the current financial year, 2019/2020, the Johannesburg Development Agency will
be revisiting the Joburg CBD with artworks destined for Bathhouse, Constitution Hill, Metro
Centre, Park Station, and Ghandi Square stations.

Hawthorne Station
Artist: DuduBloom (Duduzile More)
DuduBloom studied at the Artist Proof Studio in Johannesburg. Her work comments on the
cycles of life in the city. It also talks about repetition and the use of red is indicative of
passion in the city of Johannesburg.

Clarendon Place Station

Artist: Mario Soares

Soares is an artist from the Artist Proof Studio. His prints were chosen because of the
expressive way they represent the hustle and bustle of the city. Soares uses his everyday
commute as inspiration for his work.

Lees Station (Marlboro South)

Artists: Ububele Education Psychotherapy Trust

In May 2018 the Ububele Pre Primary School participated in a communal art making
workshop, submitting designs to the contribution to the Rea Vaya BRT artworks programme.
The preschool forms part of the Ububele Education Psychotherapy Trust in Kew.

The school learners’ artworks were selected for graphic design translation and
implementation along the steel and glass panels of Lees Station, which is part of the Louis
Botha Transit Oriented Development Corridor. On 6 December 2018, each school learner
received a certificate that celebrated their contribution #ArtMyJozi Place Making through Art
Campaign

KES BRT Station

Artist: Odirile Mabaja

Grafton BRT Station

Artist: Sandile Goba

Issued by:
Johannesburg Development Agency
Susan Monyai
Email: smonyai@jda.org.za

For more information please contact JDA, or the Trinity Session:

Yasmeen Dinath, JDA:
+27 11 688-7800
YDinath@jda.org.za
www.jda.org.za

or

Stephen Hobbs, The Trinity Session: +27 (0) 82 897 7498 | sh@onair.co.za |
Marcus Neustetter, The Trinity Session: +27 (0) 82 929 1569 | mn@onair.co.za |
Pauline Borton, The Trinity Session: +27 (0) 79 316 9579 | pb@onair.co.za |