Bluff mural celebrates communities’ unity during unrest
Artist, Di Campbell said the concept behind her work is to represent hope in the darkness.
THE WEEK-LONG unrest had all the potential to sow divisions among residents but did the opposite instead.
Communities on the Bluff, Merebank, and Wentworth showed a united front in the face of adversity in the unprecedented series of events.
Using the Wentworth Bowling Club (WBC) as the headquarters, patrollers were strategically placed at various key points. The hands that were all on deck contributed to the success of this story.
To celebrate and commemorate their efforts, the bowling club commissioned local artist, Di Campbell, to depict the unity of three communities affectionately known as BMW.
An emotional and life-long Bluff girl, Di, said painting the mural was a therapeutic exercise for her.
“We Bluff people are a very strong and close-knit community and we’ve now made the circle even bigger jointly with Wentworth and Merebank. It is just awesome,” she said.
Speaking to the SUN just before the completion of the mural, she said she was concerned about the mural being too dark.
“The ordeal was quite a dark thing. I even sent my friend in the UK a photo of it. She said it was too intense and I agreed with her because it really was an intense period. But, there is yellow and some bright colours which represent hope in the darkness,” she said of her week-long project.
The foreground of the ‘full picture’ depicts five men of various races in the front line of defence, protecting their respective suburbs. The neighbourhoods are presented by the ‘lights’ in the background. A hand of unity is in the centre with the name of each suburb on a finger each.
President of the WBC, Cheryl Waterman, said everyone who participated was amazing and the mural would forever capture that unity.
“We decided to commemorate the three communities that stood together and how we were united to secure our suburbs. We had been wanting to do something with the container for a long time, so, the club then decided to commission Di,” she said.
Ward 66 councillor, Zoë Solomon, said after formalising and delegating duties, everything started flowing like a well-oiled machine.
She said the camaraderie and the genuine support everybody gave was something to behold.
“It was an absolutely amazing time to be part of the BMW community as one. It was encouraging to get that kind of support because not everyone supports the councillor as it sometimes gets political but this experience was something different.”
“It was really an amazing time, a very spiritual and uplifting time for everybody. When Cheryl spoke of a mural, I told her I knew the perfect person.”
“Di is a friend of mine, a Bluff girl who is part of our community and I knew she would do an amazing job, looking at the mural she did.”
“I’m proud of it and the fact that it is a constant reminder of what we went through, how we stood together, remained untouched, and survived everything,” she said.
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