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The idea to honour South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize Laureates through
sculpture was born in November 2002, during a conversation between the
Premier of the Western Cape, Ebrahim Rasool, and the former Premier of
the province, Marthinus van Schalkwyk. After the Provincial Government
of the Western Cape had consulted with the three surviving Laureates
and the family of Nkosi Luthuli about its plans to honour the Laureates,
the V&A Waterfront was approached to play host to this tribute -
providing the people of and visitors to the Western Cape with an engaging
and accessible place of reflection and contemplation.
“Expressing our cultures and identity as a nation through the arts, is
especially important to us in the Western Cape as a tool in building the
province as a Home for All our people. As we create this place of reflection,
we are not only building the Home for All in our hearts and minds, but
also embracing this concept in our open spaces and public surroundings.
Each Laureate played his own meaningful and different role in achieving
peace and democracy, each one at a different time of the struggle, while
sometimes uniting their efforts. They came from different political backgrounds,
from different races, origins and spoke different languages, but together
the four left an indelible mark on the South African landscape. This tribute
must be a symbol that will hold the same significance to future generations.
It is the people of the Western Cape's gift to our nation, continent and
world.” - Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool.
The sculptures of the four Laureates stand in the form of a crescent with
Table Mountain in the background, overlooking Nobel Square, located between the
V&A Hotel and CD Wherehouse in the V&A Waterfront. They are slightly
larger than life-size and have the Laureates' preferred quotations engraved
in their chosen language in front of the sculptures. The Peace and Democracy sculpture
- a narrative work acknowledging the contribution of women and children to the
attainment of peace in South Africa - is slightly more to the centre of
the square. All five sculptures are cast in bronze and stand on an inner
granite area of 386 square metres.
Download the Project & Technical
Committee and Contractors information
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