Art as Anchor - Mural Transforms Johannesburg Student Residence into a Home

New mural in a Johannesburg campus community reminds students where they’re from, where they’re going – and that they are not alone.

Sleep, study, eat. Sleep, study, eat.

Sleep, study … art?

For tertiary level scholars studying in Johannesburg, far away from their roots and often with the weight of their family’s expectation on their young shoulders, the chance to find beauty and breathing space amidst the relentless learning may seem like a fanciful dream. However, at Thrive Student Living’s new Arteria Parktown 500-bed student residence, the art is right there in – even on! – their custom-built home away from home.

Local poet, healer and multi-disciplinary artist Thobile Mavuso was commissioned by Thrive Student Living to create a mural for the R200-million Arteria Parktown property and designed a unique artwork that encapsulates both the displacement and excitement of student life in “res”. The piece is fittingly entitled Ukuzilanda Ukuzilandela Nokuzelapha, which loosely translates as “to return to one’s roots is to care for and heal oneself.”

For artist Thobile – who is currently doing a master’s degree in Fine Art at the University of the Witwatersrand – those roots are in her Ndebele background, echoes of which are found in her vibrant yet restful mural. Painted on an internal courtyard wall in acrylic, using a palette of teal, yellow ochre, red and green, this vast piece features a circle of connected figures in traditional headdress… or perhaps a tangle of opening flowers… or perhaps a patchwork of homesteads amidst fields…

Whatever, it begs to be looked at, to be contemplated.

And that is precisely the point.

The Arteria Parktown mural, says Thobile, explores “the wounding that comes with displacement, dispossession and landlessness that many South African people experience, which often leads to a loss of cultural identity, heritage and traditions.”

The interplay depicted between the human body and the land communicates the interconnectedness of the two, she explains. “It encourages enquiry into one’s history, roots, and imvelaphi – one’s origins – as a means of care and healing. The artwork aims to suggest that through knowing who one is they may find what they are not.”

Thobile was commissioned by Thrive Student Living in consultation with Latitudes, the curated online market for art from Africa, and South Africa in particular. This collaboration was a natural one, as Latitudes’ inclusive ethos mirrors that at Thrive.

“Latitudes is not just a marketplace but an educational platform about and for art,” says co-founder Roberta Coci. “The difference is in our approach. We are flexible, inclusive, and insistent on equitable participation for all players, from the artists, like Thobile Mavuso, to the galleries, curators, and the collectors – many of whom first find the courage to start buying art through our open, inclusive showcase.”

Thrive Student Living benefits from Growthpoint Properties’ award-winning green building initiatives and ongoing mission to create healthy, sustainable environments, with a socially conscious mandate.

“We believe in lifting as we rise and endeavour to partner with members of the university community where possible,” stresses Amogelang Mocumi, Fund Manager of Growthpoint Student Accommodation, which operates Thrive Student Living. “The decision to partner with Thobile was easy given that she is a Wits student and her work resonates with what Thrive Student Living stands for.”

Thrive offers tailor-made campus communities, which include study areas, games rooms, gyms, and backup power and water. Its Student Life programme offers round-the-clock support for students, encompassing everything from academic performance to physical health and mental wellness. It is this unique approach that gives parents and bursary providers peace of mind, knowing students are in a fully supportive environment. Ukuzilanda Ukuzilandela Nokuzelapha is a visual extension of this spirit, believes Amogelang.

“Art is a language, a universal form of expression,” he says. “When students who are sitting in the courtyard underneath this wonderful mural, and they then read the plaque detailing its inspiration, they find new meaning in it and derive their own meaning from it.”

Commissioning Thobile Mavuso proved the perfect fit: she is young, female, vibrant, upcoming, locally-based in Joburg, multidisciplinary – she works in paint, photography, text, sound, and printmaking – and a student too, with her own complicated history. Born and bred in the city, she has long wrestled with her Ndebele culture. She started writing poetry in earnest at the age of 11 to process her emotions around troubles at home, culminating in the publication of her award-wining anthology Songs Broken Women Sing in 2019.

“This latest artwork calls for its viewers to remember who they are no matter how far away they may feel or be from their ancestral lands and events,” she says. “Their work is to celebrate their culture, and to keep it alive. Culture, like art, is a living thing.”

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