{"id":49812,"date":"2023-05-16T06:01:22","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T04:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/weathered-sea-rise-mural-at-fish-hoek-beach-to-receive-a-much-needed-facelift-20230516\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T20:56:20","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T18:56:20","slug":"weathered-sea-rise-mural-at-fish-hoek-beach-to-receive-a-much-needed-facelift-20230516","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/weathered-sea-rise-mural-at-fish-hoek-beach-to-receive-a-much-needed-facelift-20230516\/","title":{"rendered":"Weathered ‘Sea Rise’ mural at Fish Hoek Beach to receive a much-needed facelift"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Sea Rise Mural at Fish Hoek Beach is undergoing a much-needed revamp as the artwork had started to show signs of wear in the coastal environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resident Kim Kruyshaar says the original mural that was completed by artist Claire Homewood almost three years ago will be repaired in the coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe mural is very close to the ocean which gets sand blasted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cClaire did the original design and the mural, incorporating schools because we wanted young people to be involved and to bring awareness around climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, Homewood and Fish Hoek High School learners and their art teacher, Margaret Stone; with Patrick Dowling of the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (Wessa) and learners of Sandy\u2019s School in Kommetjie discussed the best way to renew the mural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kruyshaar explains: \u201cThe original mural was a collaborative effort with the school and the youth from the far south were involved in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the concept of change, the coastline is one of the places where you are going to see change fastest, because you get one big storm and there is massive erosion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am interested in biodiversity because if you have a fairly intact biodiversity, you have this massive natural web that gives nature options for change and builds resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople keep thinking this is about nature. We are now in the sixth extinction that is definitely man induced, but not only because of climate change, but how we destroyed habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEarth has been through five previous ones and nature rebounded, but this is about how humanity and how civilisation is going to be impacted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are going to be very seriously impacted if we don\u2019t look after our biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile Dowling says citizen\u2019s participation was needed to deal with climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am in the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa, environmental governance group with the portfolio of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing a local resident, I was super interested in having something as graphic and in the face of the public as this, carrying the message it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt (the mural) was looking at different scenarios over time where, starting off with a toddler and ending off with elderly people over the kind of (sea level) rise being expected and what could be done to mitigate the speed of that rise over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat type of choices need to be made, especially in an area like False Bay where there\u2019s a number of places that are going to be very impacted by it, even Fish Hoek Beach, protected as it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have places like Marina da Gama and Strand which is also low lying and lots of buildings have garages below the sea level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, things can go wrong and I think the City is concerned about those things too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homewood, the artist behind the mural, said an updated version of the original mural would take shape with the ideas behind change and resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are working with the ideas and metaphors behind change and growing our resilience and adaptability to change because the elements are changing, humans are causing change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChange is happening and our ability to be able to respond, work together and figure out new solutions is going to be what navigates us towards the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me that is the qualities to build and strengthen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that the original design and the updated version is about change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe original mural which was about sea levels rising is talking about climate change, talking about sea levels rising and the impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are in a changing climate, environmentally, socially and physically so it\u2019s kind of also speaking to a bigger environment of how do we want to change, how do we want to be more conscious about what change happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlso, how we work together, how we engage with the City, engage in conversation with environmentalists and people that are doing the thinking in terms of how change could not be scary but actually something positive and exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs change going to happen to us or are we going to be a participant?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homewood added that the painting is part of a bigger fund-raising drive to update murals she had painted along the coastline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a number of paintings that are along the coastline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a crowd-funding campaign and a lot of paintings that I have done that are going to naturally weather over the years, also with the ocean elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we can get excited about wanting to conserve biodiversity and wanting to create positive change, then let\u2019s get on it and get busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, let\u2019s work around the ideas of change.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n