The puzzle of terroir 6 August 2007

Simonsberg Ward’s new sculpture(s) unveiled

A giant steel jigsaw puzzle depicting Stellenbosch's splendid SImonsberg landscape was assembled at the recent Stellenbosch Wine Festival – an artwork created to ‘signify the connectivity’ between the fourteen member wine farms of the Simonsberg Ward. The sculpture, by Stellenbosch artist Strijdom van der Merwe, was destined to immediately fulfil its more disparate identity, however, and be disassembled shortly thereafter. The separate puzzle pieces (each about two metres high) will be displayed on the wine farms.

The (whole) sculpture was unveiled by Dave Hutton of Rustenburg Wines, one of the wineries involved. ‘What strikes us,’ he said, ‘is that this sculpture is absolutely beautiful in its entirety as a temporary artwork and then, once it’s deconstructed, it lives on as 14 individual beautiful sculptures.’