Cape Town's central city comes alive on the first Thursday of every month, as dozens of art galleries stay open late along with cultural events that go on into the night.
Started in London to make art galleries and museums more accessible to the public, the event, which encourages exhibition spaces to stay open until 9pm with no entrance charge on the first Thursday of the month, has fast taken hold across the globe. Cape Town has become part of this legion of participating cities, giving citizens a chance to bounce from venue to venue and enjoy a nightlife that doesn’t necessarily have to do with upper Long Street.
Besides wanting to up traffic on the sidewalks in the evening (and change people’s perceptions of the CBD), another aim of First Thursdays in Cape Town is to encourage a gallery going culture and get people who wouldn’t really consider themselves the art viewing type into exhibition spaces. In fact, most of the participating galleries have noted that at the monthly event they’ve seen a totally new crowd and a lot more people in those few hours than they would usually see on an ordinary day.
For me it’s not just about a novel way to experience art, I love people watching so I am completely captivated by the excitement and energy generated by all these people walking the streets with a shred mission.
As the popularity of the art evening increases, more people and businesses are getting involved with the street takeover. Pop-up exhibitions are, well, popping up in empty storefronts along the gallery circuit in anticipation of the large crowd of art-seeking viewers, and the hope is that the event will expand beyond the galleries and spill between the buildings and onto the sidewalks, with shops, food trucks and street performances becoming part of the art walk
Brought to Cape Town by local collaborator Gareth Pearson the next first Thursday will take place on the 4th September and starts at 5pm.
Galleries:- Michaelis Galleries (UCT Hiddingh Campus). Closes 7pm.
- Salon91. Closes 7pm.
- Rivets+Rockets. 152 Bree St. The Faces of Woodstock, Salt River & Observatory
- AVA
- Worldart
- The Black Box Gallery
- Chandler House
- Lutge Gallery
- Robert Sherwood Design (with Goodman Gallery)
- Latitude 33
- Brundyn + Gonsalves
- EBONY
- G2 Art
- StateoftheART Gallery
- Erdmann Contemporary
- The d’VINE art Room by Shay Davis
- New Heritage Gallery
- Youngblood Gallery & Beautifull Food
Other shops that participate:
- Clarke’s Bookshop
- Pan African Market
- Cafe Frank
- Honest Chocolate
- First Thursdays Food Truck Market
- Merchants on Long
- Merchants Shebeen
- Olive Green Cat
- 6 Spin Street Restaurant and Gallery
- Clarke’s and The Pit
- City All Sessions
- Provenance Auction House
Check out there website below:http://www.first-thursdays.co.za/
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