Jo’burg and Lolo

Taste is always in supply supply in South Africa, where a spectacular number of traditions and cultures meet in the streets every day, and its extremely cosmopolitan outlook makes it a wonderful place to enjoy all sorts of fantastic world cuisines.  There are local traditions that are amazing in culinary offerings, and an international tourist base the comes through the city regularly, looking for tastes of what’s exceptional these days.  It’s always changing, but always terrific, and the one thing that could be said to always stay the same is the very high quality.  Its location certainly helps this, being close to the ocean and farmlands, as well as vineyards, so that all the necessities for a gourmet meal are always near, and always fresh.

It only makes sense then that in Johannesburg, fine dining is spectacular, and there are plenty of excellent choices wherever you go.  It’s a noble thing indeed to build an itinerary around food, especially if you’re coming to a culinary feast like Jo’burg, and after you’ve enjoyed your meal and are looking for some local art, you’ll probably come across the name Veleko Nontsikelelo.  She began her art career when she was less than 30 years old, and is still extremely young, but has already had a tremendous career.  It will be extremely interesting to see where she goes in her work next, but for now, what she’s making is particularly exceptional work.

Lolo, as her friends call her, and I wish I were one of them, found her form when she was taking the Market Photography Workshop here.  In a very short amount of time, she was catching the eye of the New York art market, who were captivated by her photographs of women and men posing like fashion models in the urban environment of Johannesburg.  The clothes are often electric in color and nature, and there are western iconographies that run through the images like accessories.  The mix of meanings often goes unnoticed in the streets when it happens, but when it’s caught by the web of a photographer’s sharp wit, it becomes something else.  Her work takes on extremely large themes and issues, and brings them into view with a clarity that is fun and deceptive at the same time.  She’s one to watch.

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