I took a park and ride from Constitution Hill, and started the ride through the city with the baaaaaas of the vuvus and a busload of jovial fans. After a while I got so wrapped up in the excitement of inside the bus, that I forgot to look out the window.
All of sudden we were there. Up until now, I had only ever seen 3D renderings and so initially, seeing it in its realistic entirety caught me completely by surprise. No words could come out, but in my head the feeling of “I cant believe we built this” bounced around my head. There was this dude next to me, my new best friend for the last 15 minutes jumping up and down shouting “we said we were gonna do it! and so we did it!!! we did it! Baaaaaaaaaa (vuvu noise)”.
Every September Johannesburg hosts a most amazing international arts and cultural festival. Here at Jobusy, we’re proud to put it in our calendar as one of the most prominent annual events in the city. Expect anything from spoken word theatre in small intimate venues to international DJs playing in the city’s biggest nightclubs. Come September, the best thing to do is check out their official site and read what’s coming. Their programming is usually good and well placed throughout the month as well as being diverse enough to appeal to most scenes.
Highlights include the 969 festival hosted by The Wits Theatre.
If I had one night to entertain a foreigner that was young and hip like myself, I wouldn’t think twice about taking them to a place like Mama’s Shebeen.
Not to be confused with Mama Tembos in Linden. Both are of a similar concept and both equally as cool. Mama’s Shebeen is smack in the middle of the Greenside Strip.
The style is one that successfully recreates a typical bar within a South African township. For the foreign folk reading this, this type of bar is commonly known as a Shebeen. The hand-painted product placement and bright mismatched furniture are just some of the aesthetics we’ve come to celebrate as unique South African design. They often have live music, and I’ve seen some makeshift dancefloor action. What’s truly great however, is its middle positioning between Gin and Tokyo Star. This serves as an airy pit-stop between the sweat and smoke, as well a great chance to bump into people you know mid bar hop.
PS: don’t bother eating here though.
found on the Greenside Strip on Gleneagles Ave. Here’s their official site
Growing up in Johannesburg, The Sterkfontein Caves were seen as the ultimate school roadtrip. It is a site of much celebration in that its where the famous Mrs Ples was discovered. For a little kid, it’s all about the Indiana Jones-esque adventure fantasies.
We have learned a few interstint things since i was a small boy: Mrs Ples is in fact a rather young Mr Ples, also Little Foot was found (an Australopithecus skeleton dating back more than 3-million years), which is one of the most complete of its kind ever found, forever changing the history of the caves…
Turns out, mankind as we know it, started roughly 20 minutes out of Joburg.
Immediately after this latest discovery, the surrounding area became a World Heritage site, and the caves themselves saw a massive upgrade in 2005. With this came the fancy-looking Maropeng Centre (which is great of you have kids in tow, but not so much as an adult).
The caves are very cool as a day trip, where one can lose oneself in the natural beauty of the caves, as well as the history and (in)significance of the human race.
The caves are open every day from 9 till 5, with the last tour departing at 4. Admission for an adult is R95.
Arts on Main is one of the slowly emerging smaller success stories of the new and improved Johannesburg City. Its an old warehouse from the 1900’s thats been renovated to become artists studios, a restaurant, deli’s and even an open air cinema in the summer time. It certainly is a space to watch, and know how to find. The moment world renown artist William Kentridge signed his lease there, the place took off.
What started out as the greatest venue for hire, has quickly become a landmark site in the city. The top two floors of The Lister Medical Building are owned by established artist and photographer Alastair McLachlan. The 18th floor has been aptly named the Intermission Gallery, and hosts all sorts of amazing exhibitions. The top floor is named Private Practice, and because its a rooftop, its used for the Intermission Gallery’s after parties and a host of other special events. The site hosts events like Coalstove’s Off the Shelf Film Screenings, as well as having once hosted the annual Night of 1000 Drawings. Private Practice is however starting to develop as a very successful navigational hub for Johannesburg’s inner city. As well as the Intermission Gallery becoming more and more of a permanent exhibition space.
find the Lister Medical Building on Bree st. Johannesburg CBD. Look out for the large blue Parking sign.
I remember coming here in primary school when it was first refurbished and opened up to the public as a museum. The building stands as landmark in Newtown, as it takes up the entire North side of Mary Fitzgerald Square. 2009 saw the museum undergo some more refurbishments, and its soon to be included in the plans for more development of the new shopping centre being built behind the museum. Plans have been made to have the museum receive more thoroughfare from the open plan mall, out to the square on the other side.
For now, we including it for the sole reason that its this giant ass building and a cultural landmark of Newtown. I know they very open to student art exhibitions, and have gone to final year Fine Art Student exhibitions. So all of this can continue to make the museum a cutting edge cultural hub.
We gonna look into what stuff is currently on display in any kind of permanent exhibition, as well as find out if they have any decent exhibitions coming up, and will update this post.
The idea is simple. In order to truly love something, you first have to understand it. Johannesburg is no different in this regard.
Connect with the real city through those who live and play here. The result? A catalogue of Johannesburg like no other.
