F22T (Franks 22 Tips) - The Cape Town Edition - 24 April 2023

Edition #70

Apr 24, 2023

The last two weeks I was all over Cape Town, together with my fantastic Fontys ACE-colleague Pierke, and seven fantastic Fontys ACE-students (from Austria, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands): Boe, Bram, Imke, Koen, Mario, Thijm and Yoojin. We were on a Global Citizen-studytrip. And what a fantastic trip it was, “niet normaal” (not normal) !!

What a city: so much creativity, so much positivity, so much (wicked) problems, so much learning, so much (new) connections. So much !!

Therefore this special extra edition of F22T: The Cape Town Edition !!

Enjoy !!

1. Zeitz MOCAA

The wonderful Zeitz MOCAA (Museum of Contemporary African Art). We had planned to do a very interesting project for the new MOCAA Mobile Museum, making the museum (located at the V&A Waterfront) relevant for communities in the townships. Unfortunately, the project was cancelled, a couple of days before we left to Cape Town. But, Pierke and I had a very nice meeting with Liesl and Mandisa from the Centre of Art Education, so hopefully we can work on this project together next year.

Three years ago (my first time in Cape Town) I visited the major William Kentridge solo-exhibition ‘Why Should I Hesitate? Putting Drawings to Work’, which totally blew me away. This time we visited the major group-exhibition ‘When We See Us - A Century of Black Figuration in Painting’, sponsored by Gucci. And again, I was totally blown away. Liesl and Mandisa told us that this wonderful exposition will hopefully travel to Europe (Basel) next year.

2. Girls Make The City

Pierke had a gut feeling about the Zeitz MOCAA project being cancelled, so he already had a ‘Plan B’-project in the making. And what a beautiful project: Girls Make The City, about gender and public space. Joke Quintens (founder of Wetopia) wants to bring this meaningful project (that she started in Brussels, together with Zijkant) to Langa (the oldest township of Cape Town, celebrating its 100th aniversary this year), together with Suné Stassen (founder of Open Design Afrika), Tiisetso Mofokeng, Ellen Fischat and others. Such a strong team of strong women. We were given the opportunity to participate within the start of this beautiful project.

3. Guga S'Thebe

Guga S’Thebe is Langa’s cultural heart, bringing together artists, changemakers, placemakers and the community of Langa. A beautiful place, and the perfect starting point for Girls Make The City in Langa. So nice to be back here, after three years. We visited several public spaces around Guga S’Thebe, where we did some research, (deep) listening to the people who were at those places.

4. Langa Bicycle Hub

The Langa Bicycle Hub, founded by Mzikhona Mgedle, is the home for all cycling needs to improve mobility, to service the Langa community. They just opened a brand new Pump Track, where we had some serious fun.

5. Quirky 30

Sihle Tshabalala’s Quirky 30 is a Not for Profit Company and a Public Benefit Organisation. Sihle aligns his work with the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals. He teaches computer coding to girls and women, so they can have a better future. The students did some job shadowing, very interesting.

6. 16 on Lerotholi

16 on Lerotholi is a space that uses art as an essential tool to foster understanding, empathy and solidarity within the Langa community and beyond. Each year, the gallery stages a number of exhibitions, and runs an artist in residence programme. In the back yard they host a community garden. The students did some job shadowing, very interesting.

7. #LangaForMen

What a coincidence? When we told a waitress of one of the restaurants where we had dinner about the Girls Makes The City project, she told us about #LangaForMen, started in 2019 by two boys aged 21 years who've been involved in organizations that are advocating for rights of the people. Luyolo Lengisi and Siyabonga Khusela saw the need of opening an organization that would help a boy child to be better men not be a perpetrator but to be a protector by respecting the society and understanding the real meaning of manhood.

8. Khayelitsha Canoe Club

Khayelitsha is Cape Town’s biggest township, with approximately 3.000.000 inhabitants. A beautiful place, a problematic place, a complex place. In Khayelitsha (at Wetlands Park) there is a lovely Canoe Club, founded by Siyanda Sopangisa. They are struggling with the superfast growing Water Hyacinth in the river. Together with Marlene Lerch (founder of Dooiy - Hack your Shack) they developped a solution for this problem. They take the plant out of the water, dry it, and then carbonise it in a kiln, to get biochar (a good soil enricher). Together with Siyanda, other members of the KCC, and Marlene we did a workshop about how we might take all this into a meaningful Tourist Tour.

9. Juma Art Tours

Juma Mkwela is an artist with a big heart, bright smile and a passion for his various communities. We took a bicycle tour around Khayelitsha with Juma’s Khaltsha Cycles (btw, Chris Zegers also took this tour for 3 Op Reis). So wonderful to cycle through this enormous township.

10. The Story Room Creatives

The Story Room Creatives are a collective of artists situated Khayelitsha. Their mission is to tell stories using different forms of art, to create inspirational murals in our community to raise different awareness for social problems. We visited their beautiful gallery, where many artists from Khayelitsha have been surviving by selling their artworks.

11. Sikis Koffee Kafe

Sikelela Dibela first coffee shop, Sikis Koffee Kafe in Khayelitsha, is an active social hub for entrepreneurs, creatives and coffee lovers. The Kafe is situated inside his mother’s garage, introducing high-quality African coffee to the township of Khayelitsha.

12. Khayelitsha Finest Wines

Our last stop in Khayelitsha: Khayelitsha Finest Wines. The first wine tasting in this beautiful township (you don’t have to go to Stellenbosch for a lovely wine tasting).

13. YoungstaCPT

During our 30 minutes drive from our hostel to Khayelitsha we asked the people from Juma Art Tours to play us some Capetonian music. YoungstaCPT it was, ‘straight outta Cape Town’. In return, we played some De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig. Btw, three years ago, Fontys ACE-student Maartje Janssen made a very nice video portrait on the Capetonian rapper.

14. Cape Town Art Galleries

So much lovely contemporary art galleries in Cape Town. My favourites:

15. The Baxter

The Baxter, the beautiful theatre at the campus of the University of Cape Town. Three years ago I visited the premiere of Koningin Lear, an adaptation of William Shakespeare by Tom Lanoye, translated in Afrikaans by Antjie Krog. This time we visited the plays ‘Die Moeder’ (very, very good) and ‘It Could Be You’ ( very, very bad). Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. And Fahiem, would be lovely to meet you the next time when we are in Cape Town.

16. Cape Town Society for the Blind

The Cape Town Society for the Blind (CTSB) was founded in 1929 by a group of women from Cape Town who identified the need to provide training and employment opportunities for Blind and Visually Impaired Persons within a secure and supportive environment. At CTSB we had lunch in the dark, together with Warren Lodge (founder of LifeBrand), very interesting. Because you don't see anything, your other senses become so much more alive.

17. Robben Island

A very important, historical place (#1). Three years ago I didn’t do the tour, this time I did. Unfortunately, we couldn’t understand our tour guide, and he was rushing us through the prison so we missed a lot. Besides that, it was very meaningful to be on the island.

18. District Six Museum

A very important, historical place (#2). Three years ago I did the tour, this time I did it again.

19. Castle of Good Hope

A very important, historical place (#3). Three years ago I did the tour, this time I didn’t.

20. The DHL Stormers

At the Cape Town Stadium (where the Netherlands won the semi-final in the 2010 FIFA World Cup semi-final against Urugay) we visited the rugby match between The DHL Stormers (from Cape Town) and Munster (from Ireland). Strong, powerful players.