Tag Archives: Public art

Come rain or come shine… we walk the city to discover our history

28 August 10 2 Comments

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I took a group of 25 international journalists on a walking tour of the Cape Town Central City this morning. The weather was awful, a typical wet Cape winter’s day, but true to our motto – we walk, come rain or shine – we set off in good spirits. The group is…

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‘The Little Girl walks with her arms outstretched, dreaming she could fly…’

17 August 10 2 Comments

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If you ever needed an excuse to walk on the Sea Point Promenade, now’s the time to go and see Walking the Road, an inspiring public art project by Marieke Prinsloo. I’m not going to tell you what the story is about – you must experience it yourself.

Once you’ve…

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The ‘unhappy compromise’ shows signs of coming of age

07 August 10 4 Comments

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The Cape Town Foreshore has been described as an ‘unhappy compromise’ resulting in series of ‘wind-blown stretches of asphalt and concrete, filled with car parks and roaring traffic, inaccessible to pedestrians.’* Yet on a still winter’s morning, in the early dawn light, on foot, the Foreshore can almost be beautiful.…

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Cape Town shows the world how to street party

05 July 10 8 Comments

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We were hoping to get 100 000 people on the Cape Town Fan Walk for the Germany vs Argentina 2010 World Cup Quarter Final match. At its peak, the Fan Walk hit an estimated 153 000! This means that when 65 000 people were in the stadium, over 90 000 continued

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Heaven forbid we return to business as usual in the city

18 June 10 1 Comment

Cape Town will never be the same again. Not after the experience of the World Cup. I’m not talking about the infrastructure legacy, or the new facilities created, or the worldwide exposure for Cape Town as a destination. I’m talking about the way in which our attitudes to using the city…

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I love it when a plan comes together

13 June 10 8 Comments

“I love it when a plan comes together” was one of the catchphrases of John ‘Hannibal’ Smith, a character in the popular 1980s TV-series, The A-Team. I felt like repeating it on Friday evening when I saw 20 000 people (the City of Cape Town’s official figure) using the Cape Town…

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Siyajikeleza, Laat Wiel, Going Places

19 May 10 3 Comments

At the invitation of the City of Cape Town, I went for a ride on one of the new Integrated Rapid Transit (IRT) buses today to view three of the stations that have recently been completed: Civic Centre, CT Airport and Cape Town Stadium. It was exciting experience, as it is now possible to…

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Sm(art) opening

14 March 10 0 Comments

I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the opening of the Spier Contemporary 2010 Exhibition at the Cape Town City Hall last night. The event was well attended and a great success. Well done to Tanner Methvin and the Africa Centre for pulling it off.

This is what I said at the…

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City contagious

13 February 10 1 Comment

The Africa Centre’s Infecting the City Public Arts Festival kicked off in public spaces in the Cape Town Central City this morning. The theme for this year’s festival is Human Rite. I saw two very powerful yet different performances – Quiet Emergency on Thibault Square and Meet Market on Church…

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Ports d’Attache

19 January 10 0 Comments

Ports d’Attache, or Home Ports, is a Canadian documentary series on 13 major port cities*, currently in the process of production. One of the cities is Cape Town, and I had the opportunity earlier this week to show reknowned Canadian photographer Heidi Hollinger, the host of the show, and…

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Laneways, Sydney: Using Public Art to Revitalise City Spaces

17 January 10 2 Comments

While in Sydney, I was taken on a fantastic walking tour of some of the laneways that are part of a CBD lane revitalisation strategy. One of the ways in which this is being done is through an innovative urban art installation project called By George! Hidden Networks (George…

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Enlivening public spaces

20 November 09 0 Comments

There is nothing better than a city with great public art, sculptures, murals and posters in well-used public spaces. Here are some of my favourite examples…
 
To be continued…

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