Taalmonument - Language Monument Paarl, Western Cape Design Architect: Johan Carel (Jan) VAN WIJK Architect: J VAN WIJK and PARTNERS Supervising Architect : Paul Regent LE ROUX

Walk through Photographer: Roger Fisher

Date: 1975 Type: Monument Style: Monumental Modernism Status: Extant

Coordinates: 33°45'56.79" S 18°56'33.09" E Alt: 365m

Notes: Afrikaanse Taalmonument, Paarl On the southern slopes of the Paarlberg, Paarl stands the Afrikaans Language Monument. SJ du Toit, the so-called 'father' of the Afrikaans language lies buried in the Kleinbosch cemetery in the proximate Daljosafat, hence the choice of the site. In 1965 the Afrikaans Monument Committee, established in 1942 to this end, issued a competition for the design of this monument. The panel of assessors comprised WJ du P Erlank, Prof AL MEIRING and JDP van der Merwe, who selected the entry of the architect Jan VAN WIJK as winner. In his conception the three pylons to the left of the approach to the monument represent the formative cultures of the Afrikaans language, namely those from Europe - Dutch, German and French. On the podium to the right are three hemispherical protrusions representative of the influence of mystical Africa. The single central marker represents the direct influence of the imported Asian [so-called ‘Malay’] slaves. Where these all meet on the level of the podium the sweep of the 57 meter pylon arises representing the melding of these influences into an ever–growing dynamic language. Directly below this pylon lies a bubbling fountain and an undulating passageway with the play of light through a myriad of appertures in the wall, representing the life-force of continuous growth. The Republican pylon to the right is directed to the African hinterland so as to engage the monument in a continuous dialogue with the continent. Officially opened on 10 October 1975. See [Van Wijk, Jan. 1989. Taalmonument, Paarl. In Swart, MJ (Chair). Afrikanerbakens. Aucklandpark: Federasie van Afrikaner Kultuurverenigings. pp, 53-55.]

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View of the AFRIKAANS LANGUAGE MONUMENT located on a hillock outside Paarl overlooking the Paarl Valley Purchased: 1980 Submitted by Dorothy Adendorff Photographer: Arthur English Prints, Cape Town The AFRIKAANS LANGUAGE MONUMENT standing on a hillock outside Paarl is a symbolic structure depicting the past, present and future of Afrikaans Purchased: 1980 Submitted by Dorothy Adendorff Photographer: Arthur English Prints, Cape Town Drawing 20 of 365 by Shaun Gaylard Click for larger image