Page 42 - Intra Muros December Issue 2024

LIFESTYLE

Anton Smit with one of his works in the Park

SCULPTURE IN HARMONY WITH NATURE

By Corlia Mathews

very month we hear about events and Says Anton: “I came here because it felt They have used the natural contours of
happenings on our amazing estate. like we were moving to the end of the the koppie adjacent to the studio and
EThis month, I thought it would be fun earth. There’s a cliff over there and right art café to their advantage by creating
to see what happens outside our estate. in front of the cliff there is a beautiful integrated natural areas and gardens, and
dam, and it felt like heaven moving here. carefully placing Anton’s sculptures to fit
Take a drive out of our Solomon Mahlangu the landscape. Imagine sipping on a glass of
gate and head for Bronkhorstspruit. Drive “We saw this empty piece of land and we champagne as you sit on one of the benches
for a few hundred metres further, and bought it. My wife and I shared a burning here, snacking on some food and seeing
you will see the large statue of a woman’s desire to build a park and we developed it the sun set over the dam, illuminating the
head showing the way to the Anton Smit over many years. We each had a dream: sculptures in the process. I did just that on
Sculpture Park. Established in 2003, Roelien wanted a park, while I wanted a my visit to this unique place.
the venue comprises an art gallery and sculpture park, a studio, a gallery and a
café, a coffee shop and an ‘art avenue’, unique coffee shop. The entire area looks like an artwork.
all situated in the natural environs of a The plateau on which Anton’s sculptures
Bronkhorstspruit koppie. “To realise our dreams, we started are exhibited fit seamlessly into the
shaping this piece of land. There wasn’t surroundings. Statues, shaped gardens and
The venue is well worth a visit. Anton a single tree. There was just land, and rock formations flow effortlessly into each
and his wife, Roelien, chose this spot to all these trees that you see today were other.
showcase his work and have developed this planted by my wife – and the sculptures
sculpture park and art venue together with lovingly grow together with them. It’s An amphitheatre has been hewn out of the
their staff. true symbiosis.” natural beauty of the koppie. This terraced

40 | INTRAMUROS DECEMBER 2024