Rabbit in Madiba' ear

A rabbit hidden in the newly erected Nelson Mandela statue at the Union Buildings had the department of arts and culture baffled.

The sculptors of the nine metre bronze-plated statue, Andre Prinsloo and Ruhan Janse van Vuuren, secretly added the rabbit to the work, according to the Afrikaans daily newspaper Beeld today.

The duo told the newspaper the rabbit was a “small trademark” of their work after the department did not allow them to engrave their signatures on the statue’s trousers.

They said it also represented the tight deadline they were working under as rabbit in Afrikaans, “haas” also meant haste.

“The time factor was big and at times we had to work hard,” Prinsloo said.

Prinsloo said the “small symbol” was hidden in the ear and it did not take anything away from the statue.

“You need a long lens or binoculars to see it,” he said.

“During the moulding process a lot of people had seen the statue up close and nobody noticed it.”

Department spokesperson Mack Lewele told the newspaper he was not aware of the addition to the statue but would investigate the matter.

“We can’t comment until we have seen it with our own eyes,” Lewele said.

Lewele did not say whether the department would consider removing the rabbit.
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"We will not rest, we will find out where this rabbit comes from even if it means spending thousands of taxpayer rands, then we will come to a political and racial motivated conclusion, and spends thousands of taxpayer rands, to remove the rabbit and show the rest of the world exactly how irrational and over sensitive we the ruling party are, we will do this even though it is not what this great leader would have wanted "
 
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Sculptors apologise for Mandela rabbit

Johannesburg - The sculptors of the newly-erected statue of former president Nelson Mandela at the Union Buildings have apologised for secretly adding a rabbit to their work, the department of arts and culture said on Tuesday.

"We accept their apology and that their intentions were honourable," department spokesperson Josias Pila said in a statement.

He said a more appropriate artist signature would have been preferred, and that the department was considering how to retain the sculpture's integrity without damaging it.

Andre Prinsloo and Ruhan Janse van Vuuren, who sculpted the nine metre bronze-plated statue, told Beeld the rabbit was a "small trademark" of their work, as the department had not allow them to engrave their signatures on the statue's trousers.

They said it also represented the tight deadline to which they worked, as rabbit translated into Afrikaans as "haas", which meant haste.

"The time factor was big and at times we had to work hard," Prinsloo said.

He said the "small symbol" was hidden in the ear and did not detract from the statue.

"You need a long lens or binoculars to see it," he said.

"During the moulding process, a lot of people had seen the statue up close and nobody noticed it."

The department said on Tuesday that it was unaware of the sculptors’ intention to place a rabbit inside the ear of the statue.

"It is unfortunate that the sculptors... chose to place an object in the statue without the knowledge of those who commissioned them," Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile said in a statement.

The statue was unveiled by President Jacob Zuma on 16 December, the day after Mandela's funeral, as part of the annual celebrations of Reconciliation Day and the commemoration of the centenary of the Union Buildings.

- SAPA
 
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