Yesterday I went to the Turbine Art Fair in downtown Joburg and saw the Casspir Project: a massive armoured vehicle covered in more than a ton of colorful glass beads.
I had seen pictures of the Casspir Project in advance but nothing could have prepared me for the real thing. It’s an awe-inspiring work.
The Casspir, invented by the South African government in 1980, is a well known symbol of oppression. Although initially created to detonate mines in the South African Border War, Casspirs were also deployed into townships to quell anti-apartheid protests.
The Casspir Project began nearly a year ago and included a team of more than 60 bead artists. While I was there yesterday I chatted to Kennedy Mwashusha, one of the artists who worked on the project. As we talked, Kennedy and I suddenly realized we’d met previously; Kennedy sells his bead art at the corner of Bolton Road and Jan Smuts Avenue in Rosebank, which I wrote about nearly four years ago in my post about beaded rainbow giraffes. Several of the Bolton Road bead artists were recruited to work on the Casspir Project.
My favorite thing about the Casspir Project is that you can actually climb inside the Casspir.
The Turbine Art fair is open until 6:00 p.m. today (Saturday 15 July) and from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. tomorrow (Sunday 16 July). This is the only Johannesburg showing of the Casspir Project so check it out if you have time. Also the rest of the Turbine Art Fair is fantastic and really worth a visit. Ticket information is here.
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
In 2020, I published a blog post with tips for Americans living in South Africa who wanted to vote in the U.S. presidential election. I thought about simply resharing that post this year. But then I realized: 1) I want to write a U.S. election post that will be fun and informative for everyone, not just other Americans; and 2) Believe it or not, the U.S. presidential election stakes are even higher in 2024 than they were in 2020. So I’m introducing you to some really cool Americans in Joburg – one who I’ve known forever and two who I just met – and tell you a bit about who they are, why they live here, and why they vote.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.