Cape Town

Right then, all of my posts seem to be about Rap-Art these days, but I've been feelin' the nagging feelin' that this doesn't really capture the whole "thing" - the thing is, even though I might not have broken into the industry in the way I thought would already happen (I admit to having been sliiiightly delusional) describing how I put on an event is not the only thing that is blog-appropriate. I mean, no matter what, I love street art and I love music. I love urban culture in general. I seek out anything street/art/music-related - outside, in galleries, in documentaries and fiction. I travel! I don't do it frequently but I do go places from time to time and I always make sure I am where the street art is.

I take pictures but haven't yet found an outlet for them as none of my friends are actually into "urban" and I don't get to share my excitement with them, unfortunately. That was until yesterday, when, duh, I realised that I can use the blog for that.

I admit, more often than not, I don't know the artists' names (unless of course I am in a gallery where they are on display) and my pictures will NEVER look anywhere near professional (I haven't carried a camera ever since iPhone was invented), but honestly it's never been a problem for me - looking is looking and seeing is seeing and enjoying is enjoying. And there's nothing more I enjoy while travelling than finding out where contemporary art is at!

At the end of May I went to South Africa (I know!!! It's been 6 weeks and I am still elated!) I took my girl Sofia and we spent 3 days in Cape Town and 4 days on a safari. (By the way, I defy you to go to SA and not cry in the car on your way back to the airport).

One day we were passing by the Sea Point park and Sofia wanted to get out and play, which we did. There were these random steel plates that made no visual sense but our tour guide explained that once you position yourself at a certain vantage point and look through the "target hole" (like S is doing in the picture) the plates align themselves into a rhino! This was super cool. "Rhinosaur" was designed by Andre Carl van der Merwe in order to protest rhino poaching (as you can see on the plaque, rhino victims have gone from singles to thousands in a matter of a few years).

Before going to Cape Town, I did my research and found out about this tiny "run-down" village of Woodstock, just outside Cape Town's centre, where a street art activist Freddy Sam started painting on its walls in 2010 and where now artists from around the world come to work. How cool is that!?!

It was pouring with rain on the day, and I mean no-jokes buckets of water, but nothing ruined the experience - the best street art around! Sofia was with me the whole time, refusing to wait somewhere inside and instead taking pictures! Haha I think she gets it from me ;p Pictures marked with "S" are hers.

S.  

                          

S. (I love this shot)                                           

S.

We also saw this: an actual house where someone is living that probably used to look so very cute but is now just completely run down. I have a feeling it looked absolutely beautiful a couple hundred years ago. Now it just looks like something that might have looked beautiful a couple hundred years ago :D

Completed with this:

Then, soaking from all the rain, we went inside the Woodstock Exchange, sort of a hip place with its currently developing infrastructure of cute little cafes (vegan!), shops, even a shoe "factory" where you could literally see how shoes are made. And guess what: more art! 

Bikes!

<3 

S.

So there we go. An incredible, unforgettable, unbelievable trip and a day of streets, art, rain and exploration. I'm going to throw in a couple of pictures of Bo-Kaap - not exactly art, but definitely "street", and good God what a feeling being there gives!

PS. I'm sorry the pictures are so haphazardly positioned and sized - symmetry does not agree with me (or rather I do not agree with symmetry), I think I associate it with strict order or something. Anyway, hope you had a chance to adjust your eyes - sorry!