Last year, street artist Nadia Fisher, AKA Nardstar, created one of the biggest murals in Cape Town inspired by the theme uBuntu.
It took 15 days, one assistant and work soaring 22 meters above the ground.
Nardstar was an obvious choice for the work, given her position as one of the top street artists in the country, represented all over the world from the US to Brazil.
This year, Nardstar is making waves again in collaboration with Danish artist Eske Touareg in creating a brilliant mural depicting a gorgeous water goddess (Camissa) and referencing the importance of groundwater — an imperative element of climate change awareness.
The two artworks tie into the current campaigns activated by partner SOS, an NPO, at the V&A Waterfront and have been described as “the murals of conservation.”
Other partners included the City of Cape Town, WWF South Africa and the Danish Embassy (Pretoria).
The murals also serve as a reminder of Cape Town’s relationship with water, in reference to the drought in the Mother City from 2015 to 2019. In this aspect, the water goddess encompasses water security, something Cape Town knows well what it is like to be without.
Camissa is a Khoi title for Cape Town and expresses “the place of sweet water” as photojournalist Armand Hough describes, which leads us to look at our new water goddess as a visual for Cape Town in its protected prosperity.
Given that the COP-27 will occur later this year, the emergence of art as activism comes at the perfect time. It’s also incredible to see local artists like Nardstar lending their visual voices towards matters that are so close to home, but also universal.
The murals can be seen at Makers Landing at the V&A.
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Picture: @sos_npo