By Kgomotso Ramotsho
A large piece of art representing the late lawyer and founding member of the African National Congress Youth League, Anton Lembede, has been installed in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The permanent public art is displayed on the corner of Anton Lembede Street and 6 Durban Club Place, a home of the majority of legal practices and home of the KZN Bar Council, to mark the start of regeneration of the Durban Club Place.
In a press release Urban Lime Properties said the artwork, entitled ‘Anton Lembede Bachelor of Law’, is the largest privately funded public art piece in KZN and one of the largest in the country, covering just under 600m2. Artist Sakhile Mhlongo’s art piece shows Lembede striding purposefully towards the court carrying his briefcase.
Urban Lime Properties commissioned Mr Mhlongo who painted several prominent figures for the city of Durban. The Chief Executive Officer of Urban Lime Properties, Jonny Friedman, said research showed that public art played a very important part in urban regeneration, by making an immediate impact and land-mark statement in the city as, well as offering people a sense of peace, hope and history. Mr Mhlongo said that he was honoured to be a part of the process of regeneration of the city he loves.
Kgomotso Ramotsho Cert Journ (Boston) Cert Photography (Vega) is the news reporter at De Rebus.
This article was first published in De Rebus in 2017 (March) DR 7.
