Street Names and Statues: the Identity Politics of Naming and Public Art in Contemporary Durban

Changing and new public symbols in Durban have been the source of much contestation. Here, the focus is on two state-led instances of urban inscription: the renaming of streets and the installation of a group of elephant statues. Public dissention over the rationale, selection and implementation process of new road names was vocal and signs bearing the revised names were defaced. The completion of the elephant statutes was hampered by political intervention, raising concerns regarding the role of art and politics and their relative influences in the landscaping of the city. Engagements between government, politicians and the broader citizenry highlight the power relations invested in urban landscapes, as well as competing notions of place. By examining these struggles, this paper explores the ongoing negotiation of representation in the contemporary South African city and thereby signals the ways in which identity formation is enmeshed in the politics of urban transformation. © 2018, Springer Nature B.V.