I laugh at the face of naps

It is the last day of the Winter Exhibition at Nirox, which means we are now officially heading towards spring but first it is the dry winds of August that must come, as it sweeps the chaff of winter away before the coming summer rains. Ahhh the African rains, how the African land now starts yearning for the blessing of the summer storms.

Robynne and Rebekah decided to join Lynda and I on this beautiful winter’s day for a relaxed stroll around Nirox and they both thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Even little grand-daughter who was wearing a shirt that had “I laugh at the face of naps” printed on it, was running around enjoying the different and strange art work hidden all around Nirox. After this granddad needs a nap and its no laughing matter.

Being outside in the fresh air, in a stunning landscaped garden, far from the blustering crowds just does a lot of good to one’s body and spirit.

Not Far Away

Last week I reported on the raw sewerage that is flowing into the stream near us. The one sewerage leak that falls under the jurisdiction of City of Joburg has been reported to the right people but it is the bigger blockage which is overflowing that seems more difficult to find the right people to report it to from Mogale City. Lets hope that both leaks can be sorted out soon.

The both spillages flow into the stream at the source of the Crocodile River. Here the stream is called the Muldersdrift se Loop as it flows through a steep gorge and down 2 waterfalls before reaching the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens. After flowing though the Bot Gardens it forms the boarder of the elite Featherbrooke Estate before it leaves the urban sprawl and joins up the Bloubank Stream and becoming the Crocodile River.

Now today’s post is about this stream, the Bloubank Stream, and the tranquil Nirox Sculpture Park which is situated in the armpit of the Bloubank stream. Now you won’t think that this place started off as a trout farm with the surrounding farming putting a lot of strain on the stream.

All that has changed as Nirox has become the beating heart of the Cradle of Mankind with landscaped gardens and waterways. Looked after by the Nirox Foundation, Nirox serves as a residency for both local and international artists, with concerts, exhibitions, events, and private functions thrown in, normally at a price but twice a year they open their gates in a Summer and Winter Exhibition to the public. And it is at the Winter 2017 Exhibition that Lynda and I found ourselves once again at Nirox Sculpture Park on a beautiful Highveld Sunday sitting on two deckchairs, surrounded by art and beauty just breathing in the splendour not far from the maddening crowds and sewerage.

The End and the Beginning

Lynda and I joined the Walkabout at the Nirox Winter Sculpture Exhibition this morning. I heard about the Nirox Sculpture Park last year and always wanted to go there and this morning we had the pleasure walking around the quiet tranquil gardens of Nirox set in the Cradle of Humankind. With the birds tweeting, the sounds of water tumbling along brooks between the still dams, and discovery beautiful art was enough to take our breath away. Okay some art was disturbing and thought provoking such why the obsession on dead birds.

I wanted to lay my head down on the lawns next to one of the expanses of water, close my eyes and listen. With a river running through behind me and the birds whistling in the branches above, why did I contemplate the end and the beginning of all?

It was hard trying to understand this piece of art by Daya Heller made from cold concrete, steel and bronze. The pregnant women’s face was featureless, no expression while half her expectant body was broken and missing pieces and all the while she gently held a dead bird in her hand. Don’t get me wrong, I am intrigued yet disturbed by this. Is bringing new life the beginning of the end for her? It can’t simply mean the beginning of life and the end of it. I am captivated by the deeper spiritual meaning of why are we here in this world.

A birth and an end, nothing is all what it seems with this cold broken sculpture set in a quiet place with life living on.