#Culture

About a year ago, as I wandered the halls of the Turbine Art Fair, an annual fair featuring the works of emerging South African artists, I stopped short in front of some poster-sized pictures by John Phalane. The pictures portrayed maps – mostly Joburg maps – drawn in riotous rainbow colored pencil.

A few days ago I walked into the Drill Hall, in the frenetic center of downtown Joburg, and went through a wormhole into an alternate universe.

I’ve spent the last three days pondering this one-hour visit and how to present it on the blog. I wasn’t at the Drill Hall long enough to take it all in – I would need to hang out there for at least a week to properly document this place and what’s happening there. But I’m impatient and I really want to share my pictures now, so here is a quick summary.

Last Saturday, to celebrate 49 years on earth, I gave myself a gift: I booked an Airbnb experience with Caraci Clothing and pretended to be a fashion designer for the day.

I’ve always been intrigued by Kensington, a suburb just east of downtown Joburg. Kensington is similar in many ways to Melville, where I used to live, and Brixton, where I live now: An older neighborhood, filled with big trees and houses with pressed-steel ceilings, populated by lots of quirky artists and other creative types. Kensington is only about 20 minutes’ drive away but I feel like I haven’t spent enough time there over the years to really get to know it.

I recently returned from a weekend at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown), where I was invited to participate in the Standard Bank Art “Be Part of the Arts” social media campaign. The National Arts Festival (NAF) has been running since 1974 – it was born the same year (and the same month!) as me – and it’s a rite of passage for South Africans who love theatre, music, dance, and art of any kind. People have been raving for years about how fabulous NAF is; I have no idea why I’d never gone before.

After last year’s Brixton Light Festival, lots of people read my blog post and were sad they missed the festival and asked how they could be sure not to miss the next one. So consider yourselves warned: The next Brixton Light Festival takes place on Saturday, September 2nd, 2023. I have every reason to believe it will be even more spectacular than last year’s festival. Mark your calendars and follow @BrixtonLightFestival on Instagram for updates.