Pretoria - Nothing says Afrikaans dessert like the koeksister – and now the sweet treat has found a home at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria.
Recently, a bench in the shape of a koeksister – especially designed for taking selfies – was unveiled at the monument as part of the Cool Capital Biennale.
Cool Capital, cement company PPC and Business and Arts South Africa approached a group of sculptors, architects and designers to design a bench in cement as part of the public benches project which was launched last year.
When sitting on the bench, visitors can get a perfect view of the monument in the background and take great selfies with their mobile devices.
This is the first selfie bench in the city.
Peter Mathews, who designed the bench, said: “At first we wanted to have a generic installation and then we changed it to the koeksister.
“We wanted a modern interpretation of the koeksister and what better way than the bench?”
The bench started out as a hand-carved model based on a real koeksister. It was then scanned in 3D and processed parametrically.
The form was later cut out using the latest computer technology before being made in cement.
Sonja Lombard, chief executive of the Voortrekker Monument, said the heritage centre was the perfect place to have a koeksister installation.
“This is a perfect art piece because people who visit the monument can consume it.
“We wanted a sculpture that was relevant to today.
“The Voortrekker Monument is the biggest heritage centre in the country and the koeksister is an integral part of Afrikaans food.”
Pretoria News