RMB THINK Bench now a permanent fixture at US

MEDIA RELEASE

13 APRIL 2022

RMB THINK Bench a well-timed addition to the changing Stellenbosch University landscape

Stellenbosch University (SU) has launched the iconic RMB THINK Bench - a ten-ton functional art piece, which was donated to the university by GT Ferreira, a Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) founder and SU alumnus. The 13-metre sculptural public artwork, designed to celebrate and encourage innovative and collaborative solutions, will now be a permanent fixture on the lawn in front of the Faculty of Engineering complex in Banghoek Road.

 The bench was designed by renowned artist Louis Olivier and his team from the Workhorse Bronze Foundry in Johannesburg.

The bench spells out the word 'THINK' from one side, while another perspective reveals life-sized human silhouettes in different thinking poses. It acts as a reflective reminder to students passing by that sometimes one needs to change one's perspective to think differently.

Sandri du Plessis, Engineering Student Council Chair, said the artwork will contribute immensely to a more transformative and diverse campus and community.

“We are really trying to move towards a more diverse, more transformative student experience and I think the RMB THINK Bench will really be a constant reminder of that (vision). We are planning on utilising this extensively and I hope that other faculties will use it too. We really want to try to get to a point where we are an integrated university community,” said Du Plessis.

Ferreira, who co-founded RMB over four decades ago, said he donated this bench to act as a visible prompt to inspire students to do what all students are supposed to do, but don’t always do – and that is to sit and think instead of just absorbing information in class and regurgitating it in exams.

Said Ferreira: “While this might sound trite, the effort that is put into thinking is often underestimated. It was Henry Ford who coined the following phrase in 1928: ‘Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few people engage in it’.”

He added that students should use the bench to think how they can make the world and South Africa a better place.

“Think about important issues such as how can I help to promote racial harmony in the country, how can I assist in solving the problem of unemployment, how can I assist this university to become even better,” he added.

Prof Wim de Villiers, SU Rector and Vice-Chancellor, said that the university is on a journey of renewing its institutional culture, of visually redressing its physical spaces.

“The RMB THINK Bench is a very well-timed addition to the changing Stellenbosch University landscape,: he said. "We strive to be forward thinking and thought leaders and innovators through research who come up with solutions to complex questions and challenges we face in our country, continent and the world. That is exactly the response that we would like the THINK Bench to illicit in us. But not only that, it will also force us to have diversity of thought, to have students and staff and a greater university community who don’t just think alike but who challenge each other to improve our ideas.”

The interactive sculpture that can host more than 20 students, seated, is a replica of a greater edition in concrete commissioned by RMB, the first of which was installed on the RMB Think Precinct at its Sandton headquarters in Johannesburg and is now a recognisable landmark in Sandton. The RMB THINK Bench project was inspired by RMB's vision to be part of an initiative to unlock creative and innovative energy in prominent places of 'fearless thinking' around the country.

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Contact: 

Joandra Griesel l RMB l joandra.griesel@rmb.co.za