Long March to Freedom
This past Tuesday, April 11 I had the opportunity to see and experience a pantheon of 100 life-size bronze sculptures of South Africa's liberation heroes telling the story of the country's 350 (1652-1994) year journey to freedom and democracy called the Long March to Freedom.
During the International Public Art Festival and Conference (IPAF and IPAC) I had the chance to interview Sarah Haines, Director of the National Heritage Project Non-Profit Company who has led the development of the Long March to Freedom. From our conversations, she inspired me to visit the monument myself.
I am not an expert on the history of South Africa at all but to appreciate and understand the importance, impact, and context of this piece I wanted to give a short overview.
South Africa gained freedom in 1994 and a new world democracy was celebrated internationally. The sculptures start with the first people of Africa, the arrival of Europeans, conflict and expansion, apartheid, resistance politics, and armed struggles, all the way to the new democracy. It takes you from the Khoi leaders of the 1600s, to Xhose and Zulu Kings, prophets, warriors, the men and women who led the liberation movements, through the dark years of the apartheid. The Apartheid in South Africa (1948 to 1994) was the racial segregation under the all-white government of South Africa. It dictated that non-white South Africans (majority of the population) were required to live in separate areas from the whites, use separate public facilities, could not pursue interracial relations and the list goes on. Citizens were classified into one of four racial groups: black, Indian, colored (non-whites), and white. Non-whites were required to carry identification on them at all times of the racial group they were classified.
I consider this a living public art piece. It is a breathing work of art that expresses South Africa’s liberation history through the lives of the persons represented. Additions are constantly in the works and there is a steady list of more sculptures to be added to the Long March to Freedom.
Visitors are encouraged to engage and immerse themselves in walking through those statues. My guide Walter did an incredible job taking me through the procession. I took time after to walk through and read about each individual.
This was by far one of the most emotional public art pieces I have ever experienced and witnessed so far.
I felt truly inspired and humbled to walk amongst these works of art and the incredible humans they portray. You could touch each sculpture, and look them directly in the eye. There was no divide between the viewer and the works of art. It wasn’t only South African individuals represented but individuals who had supported the road to democracy, people in the African diaspora, it was inclusive. It is an incredible model for the direction of monuments moving forward.
Each Bronze Statue is created by a variety of talented local artists. The process of creating these pieces is called the ‘Lost Wax’ method. This requires two steps; one cast in wax and the second in bronze. This allows the relocation to be incredibly accurate and detailed of the artist's original creation.
I have listed below a few of the sculptures and the people who they embody.
Ruth First (1925-1982)
““In prison, you see only the moves of the enemy. Prison is the hardest place to fight a battle.””
As renowned activist and investigative journalist Ruth's writings exposed the horrors of the Apartheid and the evils of the racist regime. The suspicion of her involvement in Rivonia, Johannesburg, where Nelson Mandela and seven others were sentenced to life imprisonment led to her solitary condiments in 1963.
She wrote of this experience in a book entitled 117 Days. I hope to read this book and understand what she went through and her perspective. In 1982 she was brutally murdered when she opened a parcel bomb. Later it was revealed that an Apartheid spy ordered Ruth's murder out of frustration for being unable to assassinate her husband.
Miriam Makeba (1932-2008)
““Be careful, think about the effect of what you say. Your words should be constructive, bring people together, not pull them apart.””
This is a name I had heard of many times before seeing this sculpture in South Africa. In My final semester at Wheaton College, MA in the Spring of 2020 I took a World Music class with Professor Julie Searles. We listened and learned about the singer and activist Miriam Makeba listening to many of her pieces.out
She was one of the first black musicians to leave South Africa in protest of the Apartheid policies. I still listen to her music frequently in the playlists I made from that class and felt a deeper connection to the words she sings as I understand history and the experiences she struggled through and fought against.
Zenzile Miriam Makeba more popularly known as Mama Afrika, was a singer from Sophiatown in the late 1950s. She was a singer and activist, Grammy award winner, and United Nations (UN) Representative. Makeba popularized African music for international audiences through collaboration with prominent musicians. In 1964 she gave testimony at the United Nations against the racist regime for which she was banished from her home country for over 30 years.
For What It’s Worth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC-CrWWjxrs
Pata Pata: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNeP3hrm__k
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu (1931-2021)
On March 23, 2023, I was invited to the private event of the Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu statue unveiling in commemoration of Human Rights Month. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend but was able to visit the stunning sculpture on my own.
““If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.” ”
Desmond Tutu was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was the first black South African to hold the position of Archbishop in both Johannesburg (1985-1986) and Cape Town (1986-1996).
In 1978 he focused his attention across the world on the gross injustices of apartheid, advocating nonviolent protest and economic sanctions against South Africa. In 1984 he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his role as a unifying leader in the campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid in South Africa.
““Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.””
Many people debate monuments, historical statues, and their place in society. I plan to dive deeper into this context and discuss what I have spoken to community members and experts about in future postings. Thank you for reading!
