On the value of nourishing spaces

In his latest novel, Beatrice and Virgil, which relates an unusual friendship between a writer and a strange taxidermist, the prizewinning novelist Yan Martel refers to something which has become increasingly important in our overpopulated and hectic society, namely the value of a life giving and nurturing environment. In his words: “The precept that location is the key to the success of a business applies to art, and even to life itself: we thrive or wither depending on how nourishing our environment is”.

In similar fashion Anne Michaels, whose book “Fugitive Pieces” brought her instant fame, writes in her most recent novel, The Winter Vault, ‘…a building and the space it possesses should help us be alive, it should allow for the heeding of things…some places make certain things possible or even likely – not to go so far as to say that a place can create behaviour, but it is complicit somehow’.

In South Africa millions of people are living in the most terrible conditions of poverty and deprivation, also in terms of good housing, recreational spaces and a nurturing environment. For us the ideas of such writers are of vital importance. People without a secure and life giving environment, not only become despondent in spirit – they are also more prone to the physical harm and disruption caused be natural disasters. Their infrastructure is just too weak to safeguard and support them.

Too few of us understand the importance of life giving spaces for the health and welfare of a community. A few years ago our government tried to address this problem, which is also a social justice matter, by trying to provide housing for the most destitute communities. In many cases however, the houses they provided turned out to be nothing more than rows and rows of grey lifeless cement shacks. They did not consider that such living spaces should also be aesthetically inspiring – a place that could become a real home, where family life could flourish and people would feel alive.

Fortunately there are also some hopeful exceptions. Last week a local newspaper carried a wonderful report on a run down police office in Ermelo which, due to the creative efforts of the local community, was turned into a space which made them all proud and happy. In telling how this happened, a local spokesperson reported: “We realized that the police needed a moral boost to fight crime effectively. And one of the ways to help in this was to provide them with a nicer working environment. Today the police station is an open plan office with sliding doors and new tiles that decorate the walls and floors. What is more: people from different races contributed money for this.  And those who could not afford it came to work for free. We are so proud of what the inhabitants of Ermelo have done”.

What a blessing it is to have comfortable spaces in which to live, work and worship. Our own comfort should inspire us to work much harder to grant others the same privilege of surroundings that improve the quality of life many of us have now.

Carel Anthonissen