Name of Artwork
The Battle for Ellis Park and Bertrams Park Mosaics
Location and Accessibility
The Battle of Ellis Park mosaic is on the corner of Erin Street and Bertrams road on the east end of the Ellis Park precinct. The Bertrams Park mural is on Derby road in Bertrams, directly to the east of the Ellis Park mosaic. While the Ellis park precinct area is safe for pedestrians, standard precautions should be exercised when walking in the Bertrams area.
Level of Significance
Significant Individual Artworks
About the Artworks
The Battle of Ellis Park mosaic mural developed out of a partnership between the Spaza Gallery in Troyeville and the Khula Udweba Community Arts Centre in Bertrams managed by the Curriculum Development Project Trust. The JDA commissioned Spaza to do the mural, and the CDP Trust’s unemployed women’s groups were identified to receive hands-on training and earn income from the making of the mosaic mural.
The 42 square metre mural commemorates the 1922 Miners Strike. After the First World War, the Chamber of Mines planned to reduce labour costs by removing the colour bar and increasing the ratio of black workers to white. On March 6, 1922, 25 000 workers went on strike in protest. A series of pitched battles between the miners and armed forces ensued across Johannesburg, claiming more than 200 lives during the course of 12 days.
The mosaic project took place on the anniversary of some of the most violent attacks against foreign nationals that wracked Johannesburg – and the country – in April of 2008. Many of the women participating in the project were returnees from refugee camps set up during the 2008 xenophobic violence – establishing a resonance between the theme of the artwork and the participants in the project.
Building on the cohesion and achievements of the Miner’s Mosaic the JDA commissioned the CDP Trust to design a mosaic for the upgraded Bertrams Park in Derby Road. A CDP/SPAZA partnership with the same and extended group of women resulted in an exquisite design representing their individual and collective narratives.
About the Location
Bertrams is an extremely depressed neighbourhood immediately to the east of the Precinct. The Ellis Park Precinct development resulted in the upgrade of the historic houses on Erin street, the last of which ‘hosts’ the Miners Strike mosaic.
