The passing of Lovell Friedman (Kibel) has robbed Cape Town of an exceptionally talented artist whose creativity, compassion and commitment to social upliftment left an enduring mark on the city.
An accomplished ceramicist, sculptor and mosaic artist, Lovell transformed ordinary spaces into places of beauty, reflection and connection. From the Cape Town Stadium and MyCiTi bus stations to the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and hospitals in Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, her work brought colour, imagination and meaning to countless Capetonians.
Her contribution extended far beyond artistic achievement. Believing in art’s power to unite people, tell stories and create opportunities, she trained aspiring mosaic artists from disadvantaged communities, empowering many to establish independent careers. Her involvement in the Rock Girl initiative, creating colourful public benches to promote safer spaces, reflected her commitment to making Cape Town more beautiful and inclusive.
Her work often carried a powerful social message. The moving We Are Still Here memorial in Cape Town’s CBD, created with Leora Lewis, commemorates vulnerable children from the city’s past. A mosaic bench created by Lovell and her team for UCT’s Perinatal Mental Health Project Hanover Park clinic provides a welcoming refuge for mothers and healthcare workers. Her imaginative hospital murals brought comfort, hope and joy to patients and visitors.
Lovell also made a lasting contribution to Cape Town’s Jewish community. In 2024, a magnificent mosaic she created was unveiled at the Tahara House at the Cape Jewish Cemetery in Pinelands. Commissioned through the generosity of Suzanne Ackerman and Kathy Ackerman Robins, it replaced a deteriorating tapestry, incorporating elements of its original design, including plants, roots and tassels referencing tzitzit. Working with landscape architect Tarna Klitzner, Lovell created a meaningful addition to this important communal space.
For Cape Town’s Jewish community, Lovell was a source of pride – a woman whose artistic excellence and commitment to tikkun olam, the Jewish principle of repairing the world, found expression throughout wider society. Her legacy lives on in her remarkable artworks, the lives she touched and the opportunities she created for others.
Suzanne Ackerman reflects:
“It was truly devastating seeing her coffin in the room at the cemetery, standing in front of the extraordinary mosaic wall that she created over nine months. Yet, it was a fitting ending for the woman who had the vision to reflect the beautiful mood that was required there. It is heart-warming to know that Lovell and my father will forever be linked to the mosaic that is the Cape Town Jewish community.”
“We worked with Lovell for nine months – symbolic really because it was the birthing of a new concept,
a new idea.”
“We called Lovell’s mosaic at the cemetery A Thousand Shards of Light, representing the hundreds and thousands of people of every category, of every genre, of every era, coming together in that cemetery – a cemetery that represents to all of us in the Cape Town community a true mosaic of the legacy of South Africa.”
“Lovell used her extraordinary talent to create a work in memory of my late father, Raymond Ackerman, utilising the symbols we all know and recognize: the tassles representing the roots of the growing future generations; the pebbles reflecting the pebbles that we leave at a grave as a sign of remembrance.”
The organisation BRAVE, which Lovell co-founded, says:
“Her unique talent has left a visual legacy across Cape Town and beyond, from her BRAVE Rock Girl Safe Spaces benches to her murals for the World Cup. When asked to help, Lovell’s answer was always ‘Yes, but…’ Her ‘but’ was that community must be an equal partner.”
Artist and art curator Christopher Peter, widely known as the long-standing Director of the UCT Irma Stern Museum, comments:
What a loss to us all in the realms of the visual arts, public art and the teaching thereof! I admired Lovell greatly for her work and her generous outreach to others. She gave tirelessly to others, nurturing, participating and guiding with a sure hand but a light spirit – with much humour.
Projects executed under her watch at UCT were always meticulously overseen by her. And to this end none of her projects ever faltered.
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