Durban artist brings underwater scenes to life for World Oceans Day
Local artist Giffy Duminy is painting a mural in celebration of Scottburgh’s World Oceans Festival between June 5-11. The artwork is to remind people to look after their oceans and show some of the fauna and flora that live in them. World Oceans Day is on June 8.
World Oceans Day ‒ June 8 ‒ is celebrated across the world, and Scottburgh is going all in with a week-long festival beginning on Monday.
Scottburgh is ready to welcome thousands of visitors in celebration of ocean life. One way to bring underwater life above the waves is a showcase of colourful art works, giving visitors a sense of being submerged within the ocean.
The man responsible for this experience is Durban artist Giffy Duminy, who has been working with Apex Environmental. Duminy said art had been a passion since he was young. Combining that with his passion for nature has led him to painting nature murals around the city and surrounds for more than eight years.
Speaking about his mural on the Cutty Sark Hotel bridge for the Oceans Festival, Duminy said: “This mural features a local reef scape in Scottburgh that’s inspired by a Marine Protected Area (MPA) called the Aliwal Shoal. All the animals and lifeforms I feature can all be found here. These are the ones that have made the most impact on me and the ones I have seen here.” He said these include a potato bass, goldfish, a nudibranch and some corals.
He said he combined spray paint and used house roof paint for the base colour because it was “a nice surface to work on”. He used photo references to complete his work.
While some work has been completed ahead of the festival, he planned to complete the other side of the bridge with more artwork during the festival. He believed combining both sides would create “a panoramic scene because if you stitch them together, it will make one continuous visual”.
Oceans Festival organiser Russel Symcox said using Duminy’s artwork was to “try encourage and promote ocean conservation and awareness”.
Symcox said: “The idea of the festival is to bring a series of events where people can not only celebrate Oceans Day but be engaged with each other. This artwork will last longer than the festival and serve as a reminder that having a MPA right off this coastline is special. Duminy’s work will remind people what our oceans look like and how lucky we are to have them.”
The Independent on Saturday