Joburg Map Books Come to Life Through John Phalane
About a year ago, as I wandered the halls of the Turbine Art Fair, an annual fair featuring the works of emerging South African artists, I stopped short in front of some poster-sized pictures by John Phalane. The pictures portrayed maps — mostly Joburg maps...
Art Blooms Inside Johannesburg’s Drill Hall
A few days ago I walked into the Drill Hall, in the frenetic center of downtown Joburg, and went through a wormhole into an alternate universe. Outside the Drill Hall — a hint of what’s to come. Inside the Hall, where every found object — a chunk of...
The National Arts Festival: It Changed Me.
I recently returned from a weekend at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown), where I was invited to participate in the Standard Bank Art “Be Part of the Arts” social media campaign. The National Arts Festival (NAF) has been running...
Youth Day Warmup for the Brixton Light Festival
After last year’s Brixton Light Festival, lots of people read my blog post and were sad they missed the festival and asked how they could be sure not to miss the next one. So consider yourselves warned: The next Brixton Light Festival takes place on Saturday,...
Heather Mason
I’m an American writer/blogger/photographer living a quirky life in Johannesburg. Follow along as I explore Johannesburg, South Africa, and the rest of the world.