July 20, 2013
In our quest of seeing as much of this city, province, country as we can, our mission for Saturday was to explore Newtown.
Newtown is located in the heart of Johannesburg, and like the areas of Braamfontein, Maboneng, and Constitution Hill, it has been undergoing a rejuvenation in recent years to clean up the area, inject it with energy, and bring out some of the artsy funk.
We started in Mary Fitzgerald Square, which was named after South Africa's first female trade unionist. The most notable feature of the square is the sheer space; it really is a giant concrete square, and when it is not hosting an event, as was the case with we visited, it is very empty. The square is lined on all sides with carved heads- the heads were carved from old railway sleepers by local artists (there is no indication of who each carving is...?). Random, but cool.
In addition to several museums, the area has a lot of music, art and dance venues; it seems like taking in an event here (perhaps during Jozi's Joy of Jazz festival?) would be the ideal way to really experience this neighbourhood. Here are some snapshots from our first visit to Newtown:
Newtown is located in the heart of Johannesburg, and like the areas of Braamfontein, Maboneng, and Constitution Hill, it has been undergoing a rejuvenation in recent years to clean up the area, inject it with energy, and bring out some of the artsy funk.
We started in Mary Fitzgerald Square, which was named after South Africa's first female trade unionist. The most notable feature of the square is the sheer space; it really is a giant concrete square, and when it is not hosting an event, as was the case with we visited, it is very empty. The square is lined on all sides with carved heads- the heads were carved from old railway sleepers by local artists (there is no indication of who each carving is...?). Random, but cool.
In addition to several museums, the area has a lot of music, art and dance venues; it seems like taking in an event here (perhaps during Jozi's Joy of Jazz festival?) would be the ideal way to really experience this neighbourhood. Here are some snapshots from our first visit to Newtown:
Mary Fitzgerald Square
Striking a pose with Brenda Fassie (famous South African musician who died in 2004) in front of the Bassline Jazz concert venue
Interesting graffiti alongside the Jazz Walk of Fame
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