AVALON CEMETERY, SOWETO

The SS Mendi was a troopship sunk off the Isle of Wight in 1917 transporting members of the South African Native Labour Corp to serve in France during World War 1. To commemorate the centenary of the tragic event Mayat Hart was commissioned to upgrade the existing SS Mendi Memorial in Avalon Cemetery in Soweto. 

The concept for the new memorial is to make it more than just a list of the names of those that were lost and a site for the annual commemoration of the loss sinking of the SS Mendi.  More than just a memorial, the site is a place of education and memory, a place of solitude and contemplation, a landmark and site for gathering in the cemetery and an opportunity to pay homage to all of the men of the South African Native Labour Corps during the First World War.  The memorial becomes a backdrop to all of these events, sitting like a vessel in the cemeteries sea of graves, orientating people through its layout to the direction of the last resting place of the SS Mendi.