More Office Park Art

Another one of Fourie's murals at the office park.

Office Park Art

This artists name is Fourie and he has painted many magnificent murals depicting South African wild life scenes in this industrial office park. I am always fascinated by the details and true to life art work. He has certainly done a sterling job. There are many other magnificent scenes which I will post in the days to come.

Sixteen Flags

These 16 flags form a semi circle between the fountain and UNISA. This shot was taken at .... Yes, you guesed it fountains circle. These flag masts were erected in 1995 just before the Rugby world cup, that South Africa hosted. Each bore the flag of one of the 16 nations that participated in the tournament. South Africans, who are passoinate about their rugby, were of course ecstatic when we won the coveted William Webb Ellis rugby world cup that year. A feat which we repeated in the 2007 competition in France. Presently these masts proudly display 16 South African flags that flutter in the wind.

UNISA stands for the University of South Africa. It is Africa's leading distance learning institution. It primarily services it's students through correspondence courses throughout the world.

Fountains circle if a prominent landmark in Pretoria and an important traffic junction that services the commuters and motor vehciles to the south of the city.

Chief Tshwane

Chief Tshwane stands in front of the Pretoria city hall as the controversy of the city's name rages on. "Pretoria" is still the official name of the city according to the South African geograhical names committee. The city council prefers the name Tshwane.

According to history it is claimed that the african people, led by Chief Tshwane, were the first inhabitants where the modern day city now stands. This means that they were here before the great trek which commenced in 1838 leading to the the first european settlers arriving at the area of Pretoria. I have not come across any historical encounters that the Europeans had with the local indeginous inhabitants, but it should make some interesting reading.

Cycad

This large potted cycad graces the foreground in front of the Pretoria natural museum. A skeleton of a whale is suspended in front of the museum as the late afternoon sun bathes the sandstone walls. Cycads are found all over South Africa. The sub tropcial plant takes many years to grow and is a protected species.

African Innovation

The conversion and modification of a cargo container can serve a very useful and enterprising purpose. Someone has been very innovative to come up with the idea of establishing a restaurant adjacent a flea market in down town Sunnyside using this container. And they have customers for good measure. There are certainly many creative ways to establish a small business to earn a living.

Caught in the act

This artist is painting a wildlife mural at a busy street intersection. There a many other murals inside the business complex called Tannery Park nearby. The artwork is extremely well done and depicts life sized scenes of African wild life. It certainly adds a lot of life and colour to an otherwise dull concrete railway bridge. Hopefully the irresponsible grafitti artists will refrain from making their contribution as well.

End of Winter

With winter at an end and spring in the air we can look forward to a long summer. We are fortunate to have short winters in South Africa. Generally it spans from mid May to mid August - which is only 3 months of generally cold winter weather. In Gauteng the winters are usually dry and cold and we expect our first rains in early September. Strangely, it has not rained yet so we can expect thunder storms to appear any day now.