The Cosmopolitan building in Maboneng has undergone a facelift that has tongues wagging and the air filled with a buzz.
The building is a creative oasis consisting of art, food and very cool garb in one. As buildings around it have managed to evolve over the years, it was no surprise that it would also follow suit.
For those who don’t know, the mural of colonial settler Jan van Riebeeck used to be on the wall, and on Thursday night that all changed at the big reveal, thanks to art phenomenon Alexandre Farto aka Vhils’s collaboration with Hennessy.
The night kicked off with the viewing of the Vhils’s video and his idea behind the tagline, “Making The Invisible Visible”. Then we got an exclusive view of the bottles and went into the backyard, where the formalities got underway with Dash Mkhathini steering the ship.
Even the weather wasn’t that harsh and it was a nice vibe. This is the eighth edition of the VS limited edition bottle from the cognac giant, and Vhils took the collaboration to another level by capturing the art of making the invisible visible with his Joburg project.
Vhils captured philanthropist and musician Yvonne Chaka Chaka, fondly known as the Princess of Africa.
“I’m so proud of what we achieved here. I started doing graffiti and arts at a young age and that was my background. I was very honoured with this invitation from Hennessy, which is a series of collaborations with other artists. They were always open to my ideas and to what I could do as well for this collaboration,” Vhils said.
“More than the label and the bottle and me doing what’s behind the production of the art, this project is really about paying homage to people who are pushing the boundaries beyond their creativity, and in this instance they are, in their art forms, giving back to communities.”