Mandela mosaic unveiled

Th mosaic, made up of R91 000 worth of Rubik's cubes, forms part of the hotel's involvement in the city's third Ubuntu Festival.

Jan du Plessis, an engineer from Port Elizabeth who recently studied architecture at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, saw Rubik's cube artwork on the Internet and was inspired to construct a mosaic artwork solely compiled of them.

The mosaic artwork and involvement in the Ubuntu Festival is an extension of the hotel's ethos in offering a compassionate, inspiring guest experience centered on ubuntu while ensuring guests receive the highest form of wamkelekile ("you're welcome" in Xhosa).

To celebrate our nation's inspiration

"While the spotlight is on Nelson Mandela leading up to 'Mandela Day' and the Ubuntu Festival 15 to 18 July, we thought of a creative platform to celebrate our nation's inspiration. While paintings, photographs and memorabilia exist, we wanted to come together and celebrate Madiba in a never-before-seen way that will be leave an imprint in our minds and hearts," said Du Plessis.

In the mosaic, Du Plessis used computer technology to turn the image into the relevant blocks of colour and then began working on the artwork, which took three months to complete.

An icon of industrial design

"The Rubik's cube is an icon of industrial design - and the idea came to me to construct an artwork piece of our own nation's icon using this unique medium. The mosaic shows how each square, the colours representing our rainbow nation and which unite to form each detail of Madiba. The artwork is simple, with a beautiful lasting effect, echoing Madiba's wisdom", said Du Plessis.

The mosaic will be on display from 13 July in the atrium of Mandela Rhodes Place Hotel & Spa. Visitors can view the life and times of Mandela in 14 distinct sections highlighted across the walls of one of the hotel's entrance corridors.