Cape Town - The Mother City CBD has a way of emptying out from 5pm, save for a few trendy streets. Everyone rushes off to beat traffic, catch trains and buses. Around certain office blocks, by the time the sun goes down, all that is left are empty streets, but on a Thursday night, the city comes alive.
On the first Thursday of each month, hundreds of people make their way around the city on foot, visiting art galleries, pubs restaurants and related events. And with all that walking, people are bound to work up an appetite.
Clara Bubenzer is the head chef at Beautifull Food at Youngblood Africa, a restaurant and art gallery. They are First Thursday veterans, having participated since the start about two years ago.
“It’s huge because we get all sorts. Every one comes, young, old, regulars. You never know who you’re going to get, but it’s always fun,” says Bubenzer.
After all this time, Bubenzer is still “floored” by the response.
The regulars always come back and know they have to book weeks ahead. For tonight, she’s prepared a lot of fun food inspired by the long-awaited arrival of spring.
The gallery, which is among the First Thursday featured highlights, will be showing UnPublished: The images behind the headlines. The exhibition, by Cape Town multimedia journalist Aletta Gardner, is about the images by photojournalists that don’t make it to print. Yet, these continue to haunt the photographers.
One of the other popular food venues is Clarkes, and The Pit, an area behind the restaurant. Manager Natalie Pereira loves the variety of people brought to the city and to Clarkes. “It’s great, there will be quite a nice energy. The city just comes alive,” she says.
Each month, The Pit is opened and a live band hosted. Tonight, a band called The Gateway Drugs takes the stage. Revolving crowds of 200 to 300 people come to the establishment.
“First Thursdays is definitely valuable. Not many people explore the city, so it’s a great way to discover the city again. It’s like you fall in love with Cape Town all over again,” says Pereira.
The electric atmosphere is transmitted throughout the CBD.
Natasha Matthee, general manager at La Parada, describes it as “crazy”. While they are generally busy on any other given Thursday, there aren’t as many people through the door and not as many of them from the art community either.
“There are a lot of people who come in for a glass of wine, leave, then come back. It’s very vibey and busy,” says Matthee.
A lot of people make it to the dinner rush, between 6pm and 8pm before making their way to the various galleries. Once they’ve seen the art, they don’t go home. “They come back and we have a bit of a party.” Things usually start quieting down by 1am.
Aviv Gruer, owner of Woza, knows how his part of the city – near St George’s Mall – goes quiet once all of the office blocks empty out.
“After 5pm, this part just dies. But on First Thursdays, from 6pm, people come out and it turns into a vibrant neighbourhood,” says Gruer.
Woza recently relocated from Adderley Street, and Gruer says their busiest times are during breakfast and lunch. But they basically have no night market, and close their doors at 5pm.
Last month, they stayed open until about 11pm to accommodate the “hordes” of people who, on their walking route, stopped in at the restaurant for a bite to eat. He says tonight they will again keep their doors open for as long as the people keep coming in.
“We found it to be so interesting. Because we have no night trading, for us it was a 100 percent difference,” says Gruer.
Highlights
Every first Thursday of the month, galleries stay open later than usual, drawing people from all over to the CBD. New exhibitions generally coincide with First Thursdays. Tonight, some of the highlights include:
l Commune.1 on 64 Wale Street, showing: Ayanda Mabulu and Gordon Clark.
Gallery l will showcase new large-scale paintings by Mabulu that express his disillusionment and disapproval of the current government. In Gallery ll, Clark’s photographs examine the life of Quentino, a young boy growing up in Elsies River on the Cape Flats, an area that has been plagued by endemic gang violence.
l 6 Spin Street Restaurant Gallery, showing: Africanus.
An exhibition of wall plates by Clementina van der Walt inspired by South African and African literary figures and Fayum mummy portraits, at 6 Spin Street Restaurant.
l Mystic Loft on 78 Church Street, Vintage Clothing Extravaganza
From top designer labels (pre-loved) to seriously dated clothing items. This time round, they will have something for the gents too.
l SMAC Art Gallery at the cornerof Buitengracht and Buitensingel streets, showing: Viewing room #03: Landscape.
The final instalment in the Viewing room series is Landscape, an instalment of works by artists including Jake Aikman, Ruann Coleman, Peter Eastman and Ashley Walters.
Cape Argus