Street Art in Maboneng, Johannesburg

August 30, 2014 Donna 0 Comment graffiti, johannesburg, maboneng, south africa, street art, travel

I have an affinity for getting lost when I travel. Not all the way lost. Not call-the-cops lost. Just lost enough that I don’t know what street I’m on, or fail to realize that I have inadvertently walked into a new neighborhood. This is very easy because I have zero sense of direction. I have been known to spin in circles after getting off an elevator. Honestly.

I don’t like to rely too much on maps, guidebooks or strict itineraries. I usually make a list of the key places I want to see, and events I want to attend, in a new locale. Apart from that, I basically follow my gut once I hit the ground. I’m literally a wanderer in that sense.

That’s how I ended up spending a day and a half taking pictures of graffiti.

While in Johannesburg, I stayed in the eastern part of the city, in a precinct called Maboneng. Maboneng is a once rundown industrial area that has become an arts hub due to ongoing urban regeneration. Think Brooklyn’s Williamsburg, but cooler. A savvy young developer bought over thirty properties in the neighbourhood and set out to reinvigorate this side of Johannesburg by anchoring it with creatives. Chic cafes, small art galleries, and trendy boutiques abound. On any given night, your entertainment choices could range from making new friends at a local bar, going to a gallery opening, attending a comedy show, or watching an indie movie at a local cinema.The streets are still relatively empty at night. After all, this is still Johannesburg, where crime is a legitimate concern. But there are lots of activities bubbling under the surface.

Sometimes a regenerated area seems to lose its soul, in the same way that gentrification exorcises communities of their character. Maboneng doesn’t seem to have entirely gone that way (yet?). The tell-tale modern hipster elements are there: gourmet burgers, fro-yo, craft beer, an eco-café, and lots of artists. But I also spoke with older folks whose stories suggested they’d been in the area for years. Young entrepreneurs and artists swaggered by me, as older immigrant shopkeepers took the time to tell me how they built something from nothing. The young artsy crowd has definitely embraced Maboneng. Maybe the older folks will follow.

The word ‘Maboneng’ means place of light. Bounded by what is essentially “the hood” in all directions, Maboneng really does shine, in the midst of urban blight.