I am convinced culture, style, design, shape, texture and colour are what you will find a lot of here in Natal. These past days I really got to dig deep into some cores of my city and surely dug up a few solid gems, gems that may appear half-baked to others. It is known that familiarity breeds understanding, but in many cases it also breeds contempt. Coming across impeccable and fine beading has become a thing of the norm to many who reside in Natal, the wooden sculptures seem to follow you around the beach front in various forms and shades and the ever-so-colourful fabrics that hang and gust around in the cool of the day alongside the sand sculptures who fashion well orcastrated art pieces, stir very few souls. Though it no longer stimulates our local senses much, its beauty is a truth that should not be denied acknowledgment, and for most of us it will take an outlanders' marvel to remind us that our back yard is made out of gold. I attended the WHAT IF THIS CITY exhibition on the 9th of May at the Durban University of Technology where young student creatives came together to exhibit their skills and express their views and common issues through art, such a well curated live exhibition set where the artists interacted with the crowd while doing their magic, which proved to me that our creatives are not particularly meant to be understood or found in their perfect. I find you are only allowed to be thoroughly fascinated, annoyed, repulsed or interested in them and the work that they produce.
I got to meet a lovely & vibrant Pippa this weekend (who accompanied me to the What if this city expo), a travel journalist from Cape Town currently writing for High Life. She called me up for a tour around Durban's hot spots and for an interview on the creative scene that 'exists-unheeded' by many. KZN is a carefully curated space that generates rich individuals, objects, and beauty; Ah-yes I find particular beauty in these spaces I call home.
One way or another, people have to harvest what best fosters the good blooming of our city in this contemporary life, and dedicate ourselves to growing that, which could never be duplicated by the other cities.
Below are the few places Pippa and I got to visit. With time I will head over to some of these spots once again for a review. She loved the Factory café coffee that kept us fuelled until we reached freedom café where we lunched on a beautiful meal and service! #welldone guys
The Factory Café, The corner Café, Bean green, KZNSA, Phansi museum, The Chairman, Freedom Café, The Glenwood Bakery, Durban's warwick junction, The city cemetery, Spiga, DUT
Image credit Andrew Brauteseth a photographer based in Cape Town taken from his blog.
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