Page 18 - LandscapeSA_121(digital)

PROJECT

educate the community on complex
environmental issues – Busiswa notes
how one child made the connection
between the birds and insects shown on
the murals/mosaics and the presence of
birds and insects in the garden, which
were not commonly observed before.

Partnerships and collaborations
Since its inception, the project has
depended on partnerships.
Labour costs for artwork (mosaic
benches and murals) were covered by
TUF, along with other minor costs. Riyaad
Ajouhaar, a building contractor, assisted
with recycling the building rubble and
constructing benches.
TUF and the group also partnered with
local artists such as SethOne and Regan PHOTO CREDIT: JUDY BRYANT
Rubain to design and undertake the art
mural and mosaic benches respectively.
In both cases, Busiswa collaborated with
these artists to develop the designs.
Given the close relationship between
Busiswa and the adjacent primary school,
the school gave permission for the Fahad Aziz of The Umvoto Foundation, and Busiswa Nomyayi of Indawo Abantu
benches to be built and stored on their Injongo eKhayelitsha at the #cocreate Blue-Green Cities Design Awards
property.
The vegetable garden within the
school property has received donations
such as building material from Ajouhaar
and plants from architectural consultant
Christoph Reinhold.
Generous donations also came from
Creative Space Clovelly and React Group
in the form of tiles for designing the
bench mosaics. Lastly, engagement and
collaboration with the City of Cape Town
resulted in a recycling training workshop
hosted by the city to further upskill the
group.
This project is a blueprint for
community empowerment and self-
reliance for other parts of Khayelitsha
and the rest of South Africa. The initiative
advocates bottom-up approaches that
illustrate the importance of community-
led projects and strong partnerships with
a wide range of collaborators, including
scientists, engineers and artists. n
Text supplied by Meropa Communications on
behalf of the Blue-Green Cities Design Awards. DESIGNED BY GEMMA BLUFF
Photos supplied by The Umvoto Foundation. Project layout

Art mural painted by a local artist with the name of the project displayed in the design (Indawo, Abantu, Injongo eKhayelitsha)

16 Landscape SA • Issue 121 2023