by 2summers | Nov 17, 2020 | Arts and Culture, Brixton, Johannesburg, Melville and Surrounds
For more than half a century, the Hong family ran a corner shop at 166 Caroline Street in Brixton, one of Joburg’s oldest residential suburbs. Immigrant-owned corner shops, much like spaza shops, are an iconic part of South African history and culture. 166...
by 2summers | Jul 27, 2020 | Arts and Culture, Johannesburg, Parks/Nature Reserves
Last week I participated in a behind-the-scenes tour of historic Paterson Park, on the border of Norwood and Orange Grove, to check out the public art projects in progress there. The park is undergoing a huge renovation, expected to finish in the next few months. The...
by 2summers | Jan 22, 2020 | Arts and Culture, Johannesburg, Johannesburg Day Trips, Soweto, Townships/Informal Settlements
Last week I did an all-day tour of Soweto with Eenblond Tours. “Eenblond” means “a blonde” in Afrikaans, which makes sense because that’s exactly what Gilda Swanepoel is. Gilda inside one of the Soweto cooling towers. Gilda and I are...
by 2summers | Dec 19, 2019 | Arts and Culture, Johannesburg
Along Louis Botha Avenue between Orange Grove and Yeoville there is a half-kilometer stretch of road previously known as “the death bend”. Louis Botha is one of Joburg’s main thoroughfares between north and south, connecting Alexandra Township and...
by 2summers | Aug 16, 2019 | Arts and Culture, Johannesburg, Limpopo
I love Limpopo and I also love African craft art. So when I went to Madi a Thavha Mountain Lodge — a lodge outside Louis Trichardt in far northern Limpopo that promotes the work of Venda and Tsonga artists — I was in heaven. Succulents on my little room...