Guerrilla art project Beware of Colour admits it was behind mysterious paintwork that appeared on dilapidated heritage buildings over the summer

Over the summer, building after building in downtown Johannesburg began to cry tears of hot pink paint.

The striking colour trickled out of broken windows, over the dirty sills and down the sides of some of the city’s most precious – and most neglected – heritage high rises.

Bloggers asked who was behind the mysterious paint jobs that appeared from June to August, but it is only recently that the instigator of the project revealed himself and his purpose.



New York-based artist Yazmany Arboleda had arrived in the city for a different assignment at the beginning of summer, but was soon struck by the number of large buildings “with broken windows, totally dilapidated, filled with debris.”

Some areas of Johannesburg that were left to decay during spiralling crime rates in the 1990s have now undergone successful regeneration programmes, but others have not been so fortunate.

Arboleda contacted Johannesburg artists, who told him that some buildings had been derelict for years, while others are filled with hundreds of squatters, forced to pay rent to unofficial landlords who “hijack” buildings that don’t belong to them. They often have no running water or electricity.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Beware of Colour project strikes the heritage building Shakespeare House on Commissioner Street Photograph: Lungile Zuma

“Every citizen is supposed to have a constitutional right to housing, and safety is a real issue downtown,” Arboleda told the Guardian by phone from New York. “If the authorities were serious about fixing these problems, then wouldn’t programmes like Operation Clean Sweep start with these properties? They embody the injustices in the city.”



Around 30 South African artists joined Arboleda for the urban art project they dubbed Beware of Colour. It is intended to revive conversation about the well-documented dilapidation of the city’s centre and the lack of adequate housing for thousands of people living under the poverty line, which Arboleda believes contributes to “the climate of crime and fear” on the streets. Though crime rates are reported to be falling, Johannesburg is still considered one of the world’s most dangerous cities.

Making their mark

The art collective’s Tumblr explains why the group chose pink for its protest: “We know well that safety thrives in bright pink and danger dwells in muddy browns and faded greys... together, we dress fear in pink in hopes that she will smile a little and join us in reinventing much”.

The art collective would dress as construction workers when they ventured out between 1am and 5am to leave their magenta mark on the high rises. “We chose buildings that were empty because local artists did not want to attract attention to squatters in case they were then evicted,” he said. They chose heritage buildings such as Shakespeare House, Clegg House and New Kempsey.



The project was not without its hitches. While driving through the city centre scouting for locations, Arboleda had a gun put to his head in an attempted robbery. Luckily, the gunman seemed to “realise there were a lot of people around” and decided to walk away.



Neglected buildings appeared to cry tears of hot pink paint Photograph: Yazmany Arboleda

Arboleda says he was also arrested during a painting session at Shakespeare House, but managed to persuade police officers to let the other artists leave. He says the authorities were considering charging him with “malicious damage to property,” but this was dropped when he argued that the building already has no windows, and is covered in graffiti and rubbish. The pink paint was at least washable, he said.

The South African artists involved in the project have remained anonymous for fear of legal repercussions.

“Reckless”

Many of the buildings were bought by developers when they were going cheap after the end of apartheid, and have been left to decay ever since. Some believe investors are waiting for their value to increase, and are not concerned about their state in the meantime.



Before Arboleda went public about the project, Herbert Prins, acting chairman of the Egoli Heritage Foundation published a statement calling the paintings “reckless” and “ill-considered” but agreed that “there is good reason to protest”.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Arboleda was struck by the buildings “with broken windows, totally dilapidated, filled with debris” Photograph: Mpho Mokgadi

“The buildings ‘attacked’ by the demonstrators have stood neglected and unloved for years (if not decades),” Prins wrote. “The City of Johannesburg, the Gauteng Provincial Government and the National Government that should be custodians of heritage chose to be ineffectual notwithstanding that they have the necessary statutory powers to intervene.”



Arboleda does not dwell on criticisms, insisting that most of the feedback he received was positive. He says many of the artists he worked with intend to continue and even expand the project.

“Some said the project didn’t make sense, or it was a waste of time,” he says. “But for us, it created conversation, and that may lead to a way of resolving the issues here.”



Yazmany Arboleda is part of the MIT Engage initiative, which aims to reinvent communities through art