For more than half a century, the Hong family ran a corner shop at 166 Caroline Street in Brixton, one of Joburg’s oldest residential suburbs. Immigrant-owned corner shops, much like spaza shops, are an iconic part of South African history and culture.
Mrs. Hong retired from running the shop – which was a cross between a convenience store and a general dealer – in 2018, and 166 Caroline Street is now a multi-purpose project space called Shade. For the rest of November, Shade is hosting an exhibition called “Behind that Window”: A collection of photos and artifacts from the Hong family’s 56 years in the shop.
I like this exhibition for several reasons. First it’s in Brixton. Brixton is next to Melville and has always been one of my favorite parts of town – it’s an unofficial border between the city and suburbs and straddles several interesting sectors of Joburg society.
I like the simplicity of the exhibition; it’s a collection of objects that tell the family’s story without a lot of verbal narrative. (This means you spend more time looking and less time reading, which I like.) The fact that the exhibition inhabits the actual space where these items were used makes it feel particularly poignant.
The exhibition is also a great illustration of the often-overlooked role that Chinese immigrants played in the evolution of Johannesburg. I wrote a story about this topic a few months ago for The Culture Trip, which I’m pretty proud of and happy to have an excuse to share here.
Lastly, the Caroline Street exhibition is a really fun thing to do on a summer weekend in Joburg. Art-exhibition-visiting has become one of my favorite socially distanced leisure activities – I missed it so much during the lockdown.
“Behind that Window” is open until 29 November, Wednesday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. There are also a few pieces on display at Breezeblock, which is one block up from 166 Caroline Street.
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.
Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show – I know I have – and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.