The 'Beyond Walls' fresco seen from the air in the Sea Point neighborhood of Cape Town
Well-defined lines in greyish tones shape the chains of intertwined hands that, like frescoes on the grass, have appeared in different locations of Cape Town. At a time when pandemic reasons have led to much talk of South Africa, the ninth stage of the artistic and protest project Beyond Walls arrives at his capital.
And it does so to advance in the achievement of the objective that Saype the artist (contraction of Say Peace behind which is Guillaume Legros) has been marked: build the largest human chain in the world to launch a message of union and coexistence, so necessary today, when the pandemic caused by Covid-19 has led us to isolate ourselves like never before and has contributed to accentuating inequalities in our societies.
Philippi Township
Thus Saype has painted the immense frescoes of him in three neighborhoods of Cape Town. In total 7,600 square meters of art distributed between Sea Point, a wealthy area of the city by the sea, the huge township of Philippi and the smallest of Langa. Both are deprived areas of Cape Town, heritage from the apartheid era.
These hands, which represent different populations and realities of the city, "symbolize Nelson Mandela's willingness to reconcile intertwining, beyond social and economic inequalities, the three neighborhoods of Sea Point, Phillipi and Langa”, explains Saype in the press release about his work in the South African capital.
“In this way, I hope that my work it may be a modest contribution to reconciling the people of a city where the scars have not yet healed”.
The essence of Beyond Walls made its presence special in the land of Ubuntu, a South African word that sums up the idea of living together and treating others humanely.
Started in June 2019, when he painted intertwined hands on the Champs de Mars that were in charge of shading the Eiffel Tower itself, this human chain has already passed through Andorra, Geneva, Berlin, Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Yamoussoukro (Ivory Coast), Turin and Istanbul.
Don't bother looking for them though, as Saype uses a biodegradable paint that turns each one of his interventions into an ephemeral art exercise.
Township of Langa