SGSA: Art and architecture

Being the Cradle of Humankind and all, we have ancient cave paintings, as well as tons of ethnic crafts (beading, weaving, carving etc – of course a lot of those traditional souvenirs you’re seeing were probably made in the Congo), and there are some rather powerful artworks that came out of the apartheid era (like the one above). And then (oh dear) there’s Tretchikoff and Beezy Bailey…

We’re a bit short on ancient monuments, although we do have at least one distinctive (and rather lovely) architectural style – the Cape Dutch farmhouse. Cape Town’s socalled Castle is a squat, pentagonal fort. Rhodes Memorial is a weird neo-classical temple that’s all about looking at the view, away from the building. Which I think is the main thing with the city: why look at buildings, when you could be looking at the landscape?

Oh yes, and Joburg has some skyscrapers and stuff.

Update: How could I forget? There's a rich performing arts tradition in all sections of SA society, from gumboot dancing and pennywhistle jazz (as borrowed by Paul Simon on Graceland) to physical theatre, a form we have made peculiarly our own. The Cape Town ballet is particularly good, too. SA has produced some brilliant literature, not so much great films. While Capetonians will tell you eagerly about their booming film industry, mostly that means foreign crews are using the city as a location — indigenous product is still scarce.