Elephant project gains momentum

A COLLABORATION between Umcebo Design and Westridge High School is making good progress and is steadily nearing completion, thanks to the tireless work of dedicated staff working on the project.

The project, an elephant sculpture, was started at the end of 2019, after Westridge principal, Suren Seetal, approached Robin Opperman and Ujala Sewpersad from Umcebo Design, local craft organisation, to help with a project at the school.

“I visited Eden College’s Ecofest last year and saw the Tree of Life mural, made out of bottle caps, at the school, which was made in collaboration with Umcebo Design. I was so impressed by this work and felt we needed to import this to Westridge. I saw Robin sitting on the floor working and spoke to him about undertaking a venture at the school,” he said.

Robin and Ujala were invited to the school to speak to the practical teachers about what could be done in the department. The school had mentioned a desire to create a collection of animal sculptures, and Robin encouraged them to start with one, the elephant, in October 2019.

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Robin and Ujala consulted on the project, working with Sibusiso Sithebe and Dolly Buthelezi from the Creative Arts Department at the school. The teachers started by welding together the frame of the elephant, branching off into a mode of construction they were not familiar with. They were supervised in this by Kallie Meiring from the Motor Mechanics Department at the school. The structure was then covered with many layers of paper mache, and will be finished by covering this with bottle caps. The elephant will be displayed in the garden at the entrance to the school offices.

Commenting on the project, Robin said this was a job very well done. “It has been miraculous considering the number of demands put on Sbu and Dolly during the project, and in the midst of a pandemic! They have taken our advice on board, have never begrudged the task and have gone the extra mile willingly, even sacrificing afternoons, weekends and holidays. They have had delays due to the pandemic, but have come back to make this magic happen. You really need the right kind of teachers to do this and Sbu and Dolly have come to the party and created something incredibly special,” said Robin.

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Suren said he had seen a passion in the duo to create something to show for the school, and leave a legacy.
“The vision is to raise the bar and that the school has the potential to rise above and compete with more affluent schools in the area. This isn’t something on a small scale, this elephant is gigantic, and full marks go to the teachers. The beauty is in the vision of this work,” he said.

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