I was annoyed by the ugly metal fence surrounding the exhibit, which creeps into every photo, and could do without the artificial turf the sculptures are standing on. The sculptures are in a clearing next to the old Moyo restaurant. Once inside, there are signs directing you to the Long March to Freedom. Type “Fountains Valley” into your GPS, or take the Eeufees Road exit off Ben Schoeman Freeway (near the Voortrekker Monument), turn right, and drive straight through the Fountains Valley gates. It’s really not necessary to go that early, but I recommend going either early or late in the day because: 1) The light is better for photos and 2) There’s no shade and I’ve heard it gets very hot in the middle of the day.Īlthough hardly anyone knows about it, the monument is easy to find. I visited the Long March to Freedom at sunrise - I was tagging along with some people working on another photography project - and arrived at about 5:30 a.m. ![]() The Long March to Freedom has commissioned 40 professional sculptors, many of whom partnered with and mentored a group of less experienced sculptors while creating the works for this exhibit. ![]() ![]() The eventual plan is to grow the army to more than 400. (Wikipedia has a pretty good description of the monument.) There are about 100 sculptures in the collection now and it’s increasing all the time. The Long March to Freedom National Heritage Monument is the brainchild of Dali Tambo, son of Oliver and Adelaide Tambo. Oliver Tambo (one of the sculptures I originally saw in Kliptown) and his wife Adelaide. Walking among them is like taking a literal journey through the human history of South Africa.įrances Baard marches toward freedom, flanked by Father Trevor Huddleston to her left and Anton Lamdede to her right. But when viewed together, marching as one, they’re not sculptures anymore. When viewed separately, these sculptures are just sculptures. Chris Hani is behind the Sisulus to their right. (Rather than explain who each person is, I’ve linked to the heroes’ bios on the National Heritage Monument website.) Walter and Albertina Sisulu, leading the charge. Now that I’ve been there, and seen not ten sculptures but 100, all marching in the same direction - some with fists raised, one on horseback, one astride a bull, some carrying books or briefcases and others wielding rifles or spears - I get it. It took me a couple of years to get to the sculptures’ new home in Fountains Valley. I first encountered these sculptures in 2015, when about eight or ten of them went up in Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown. I was disappointed when the sculptures later disappeared from Kliptown and someone told me they’d been moved to a field in Pretoria. The woman to Sobukwe’s left is Helen Suzman. This hidden bronze army, made up of heroes who fought in the South African struggle for democracy over the past four centuries, is the Long March to Freedom National Heritage Monument.Ī bronze of Robert Sobukwe, made by artists Louis Olivier and Nkhensani Rihlampfu, on the Long March to Freedom. In Pretoria, just off the highway in a local park called Fountains Valley, is an army of life-sized bronze men and women walking toward freedom. UPDATE (JANUARY 2019): The Long March to Freedom National Heritage Monument has moved, from the Fountains Valley Resort to Maropeng in the Cradle of Humankind.
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