Nelson Mandela Voting Line Sculpture - Port Elizabeth, South africa
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N 33° 57.704 W 025° 37.209
26S E 627487 N 3758770
Erected in 2010, the 'Voting Line' sculpture is located at the drum of the Great Flag at the Donkin Reserve in Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth.
Waymark Code: WMJMWG
Location: Eastern Cape, South Africa
Date Posted: 12/06/2013
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It is a 38-metre-long silhouette sculpture of South Africans – of all shapes and sizes – connected together to make what is simply entitled 'Voting Line'. To give it that distinct coastal flavour, there are even a couple of black metal seagulls hovering about the voters' heads. At the end of the queue is a metal cut-out of Nelson Mandela standing tall and victorious, his fist in the air.
This unusual tribute to South Africans and their charismatic talisman is one of a number of artworks recently set up at the Donkin Reserve as part of the Mandela Bay Development Agency's (MBDA) urban revitalisation project.
The Mandela figure is actually the new logo for the Nelson Mandela Foundation's Madiba Trust, who gave permission to the MBDA for the Voting Line artists, Anthony Harris and Konrad Geel, to incorporate it into their work.
The Donkin Reserve is a public park proclaimed by the founder of Port Elizabeth, Sir Rufane Donkin. Besides the new artworks spread about the park, the most remarkable item is the Donkin Memorial, opposite the lighthouse. It is a pyramid-shaped structure built in honour of Donkin's wife, Elizabeth. He loved her so much he named the city after her.
The Voting Line sculpture now completes the historical timeline of Port Elizabeth, with the Donkin Reserve celebrating both the founding of the city and the founding of a new South Africa.
It also forms part of the MBDA's Route 67 initiative, a public display of 67 pieces of art celebrating each year that Nelson Mandela gave to public life and the people of South Africa.
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