Graffiti Artist Paints Heart-Tugging Ode to African Penguins

Graffiti artist MacClements has created a visual ode to endangered African Penguins, decking out SANCCOB’s visitor’s centre with artwork that reminds everyone who stops by of the bigger picture when it comes to the conservation of our seabirds: Cape Town, South Africa (12 July 2024) — Those who plan on visiting the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) will be greeted by massive penguins gliding through spray-painted seas thanks to a new mural by graffiti artist Christopher MacClements (known to the art world as MacClements). But it’s not just any penguin’s ideal day in the deep. It’s an “ode to our endangered African Penguins” as Christopher says. At a further glance, it’s inarguably an ode to the bigger picture of seabird conservation. For the artists, the project was an honour that allowed his hand to showcase the beauty of this species. The vivid colours and the deep sense of freedom the mural captures aptly juxtapose the bleak futures the penguins face, making the call to seabird conservation all the more urgent as we realise without action, murals like this won’t be snapshots of the present, but relics of the past. Indeed, it is an ode to...