Publications
Partners
If you’ve ever had the opportunity to travel outside our country, you’ll know how many cities like New York and Barcelona have long made arts and culture an important and accessible highlight for its locals as much as for tourists.
MOMA in midtown Manhattan partners with Uniqlo to open its doors for free on a Friday evening and Barcelona runs initiatives like The Night of the Museums with live performances, late night viewings of exhibitions and much more.
SA has now been doing the same for a few years now. When I lived in Cape Town, come rain or deadline, I would make sure to clear my diary for every first Thursday of each month. And I was so excited when Joburg joined the fray. Hopefully Durban will get added to the list of cities soon.
Sometimes you don’t get the time to visit the galleries and stores you’d like to during the week because they close by the time you finish work and a lot of weekends are filled with the obligatory errands you need to run.
And depending on your budget and time constraints, it can get pricey to enjoy a shop plus the entrance fees some places charge. Enter First Thursday.
The public event’s biggest drawcard is that you can explore the city by night – art, music, shopping - and on foot with friends in tow, for free. And it goes ahead regardless of the weather.
Do you have plans to head out there tonight? Here are a few things to look forward to in Joburg:
Joburg
Where?
Rosebank
What?
At Keyes Art Mile, enjoy a sundowner at Marble then wander down to WhatIfTheWorld – they’re currently showing Nigerian artist Lakin Ogunbawo, SMAC – UK born Cape Town-based painter Peter Eastman and Circa – South African artist Brett Murray.
Blessing Ngobeni’s exhibition has unfortunately closed but hopefully you had the chance to enjoy his work in Feb.
How much do we all want one of Blessing’s works? For a bit of a shop, pop into Missibaba and Shelflife then get some décor inspiration at the Anatomy Design, Flos and True Design.
If you’d prefer to start David Krut side of Jan Smuts, meet up with friends at Bolton Road Collection for a cocktail and then walk across to Goodman Gallery for the opening of Michael Subotzky’s installation.
Where?
Braamfontein
What?
Check out creatives Sikelela Damane, Healer Oran and Bobby James III at Kalashnikov Gallery. Umuzi has curated work from black female artists including Puleng Mongale and Rita Kantu to challenge the current dynamics of what it is to be the subject of and to work in art as a woman.
Keen for a bit of a dance or live music with your art? Kitchener’s has a great line-up of DJs including Nathan Redpath aka KingB - and join Orbit for a Miriam Makeba birthday celebration.
Where?
Maboneng
What?
There’s a new popular hotspot in the precinct called Agog Gallery. Take in works exploring themes around the African city while you sip on wines from an impressive collection at The Nine Barrels then dance it off upstairs on their rooftop.
