The Afrikaans Language Monument (Afrikaans: Afrikaanse Taalmonument) is located on a hill overlooking Paarl, Western Cape Province, South Africa. The monument was officially opened on 10 October 1975, and it commemorates the semicentenary of Afrikaans being declared an official language of South Africa separate from Dutch.
The monument consists of various tapering structures of a convex and concave nature, symbolising influences of different languages and cultures on Afrikaans itself, as well as political developments in South Africa, as follows:
- Clear West – the European heritage of the language
- Magical Africa – the African influences on the language
- Bridge – between Europe and Africa
- Afrikaans – the language itself
- Republic – declared in 1961
- Malay language and culture
I'm from Tulbagh, Western Cape, South Africa. Tulbagh is a small farming community.
Get Pushed Challenge: I have been doing this challenge on and off...
Well you definitely need an explanation of the symbolism but it is aesthetically pleasing to look at and It truly compliments the beautiful mountains surrounding it. Your shot also has used the sculpture itself for a strong leading line and the balance between earth and sky is perfect.
@olivetreeann Ann over the weekend I will post some more information about the monument and some of the symbolism associated with it. This shot only shows a small portion of the monument.
I love how you've framed this! And it's interesting reading the details of the monument. When I visited SA a few years ago for an education delegation, I was fascinated by the challenges of maintaining so many different home languages in the schools.
