It all started last week Friday when we went to the Alex Nash exhibition at the Grayscale gallery in Braamfontein.
Alex Nash exhibition/ Grayscale Gallery- Braamfontein/The Guildhall
Alex Nash's customised sneakers are awesome and he has been part of a really interesting heritage project where he designed a shoe for every cultural group in South Africa. The Ndebele shoe was my favourite. The event was also really fun as it was sponsored by Vitamin Water and Millers. We met some randoms at the party and had quite a few drinks. It was really fun. Afterwards we were really hungry and in need of a few more drinks so we went to one of my fav bars- The Guildhall. Always fun and the owner always gives us something on the house- he is an awesome host.
Saturday in the City
On Saturday I had an awesome day exploring the city with my boyfriend Monkey/Justin and my friend Tania. They have a company called Shutterproof Photography that specialises in Joburg Inner City and event photography. They wanted to take some pics and so of course I had to tag along. We first went to Constitution Hill and took pics from the top of the old fort-great view of the city. We also had a look at one of my favourite public artworks- The Angel of the North. We then went for a drive around Hillbrow and ended up at the Windybrow Theatre (once the home of mining engineer Theodore Reunert and now a theatre) which is currently being renovated. Its a really unique old building with a great history. I also like how it is still used and serves an important role for the surrounding community. I have wanted to check out the new Ernest Cole Exhibition at the Jag for a couple of weeks and so we stopped their next. If I had to describe it in one word i would definitely say...WOW. It is so fantastic and a very thought provoking look at what it meant to be black under Apartheid. By this time we were really hungry and tired so we decided to go to Fordsburg for lunch. I had an amazing bunnychow (curry in a loaf of bread for the non South Africans) and then we went and got some traditional Indian cakes for later in the day. We had decided to go home but as we drove past Braamfontein Cemetery we decided to go and have a look around as it is Joburg's oldest cemetery. It was a really great look at our history with many well know figures graves as well as many men killed in WW2 and the Boer War. As you can imagine after such a busy day I went home and passed out...walking around with crutches and a moonboot is so tiring.
A Crazy Tuesday afternoon in the Inner City
On Tuesday my sister Sarah who is a journalist invited me along to a meeting with an architect in the inner city. The architect Brian Mckechnie is really passionate about the inner city and has had a lot of involvement in many heritage and inner city projects. His main inner city "baby" is the Anstays Building which i have written about before. He offered to take us on a visit to his building and on the way we were walking past the Barbican when the builder who knows Brian Offered to take us in. Anybody who really knows me or has been on a tour knows that this is my absolute favourite city building and so this is probably the most awesome thing ever! It is absolutely amazing inside and the builders attention to detail is great. We then went on a tour of the Ansteys building and got to go into the original Anstey familys apartment...very awesome. It really is an amazing building. My second favourite building in the city is His Majestys Building. I have wanted to go and explore it for ages as i heard that the old theatre was still inside. We decided to go and explore and so we phoned the lady in charge of the building who might actually be insane. When we got into her office I felt like I was in trouble at school. The building looks really awful inside as it is filled with horrible 1970's prefab..yuck. But all is not lost as the 13th floor is still looking amazing. Lots of wood paneling. Afterwards all this inner city fun we went for a drink at the Guildhall and then stopped in at the new Reef Hotel. Its stunning and the bar is great. They make a great whisky shooter. They also have plans to put a bar in on the roof...I cant wait as the view is awesome.
Every time I am in the city I realise how much I love it. I find myself getting more and more passionate about the history, buildings, people and future rejuvenation of the Joburg Inner City. Ill write again soon...
Images by Shutterproof Photography www.wix.com/justindup/shutterproof
