Arts and Culture in Cape Town
Art Galleries
The South African National Gallery
The South African National Gallery houses an amazing collection of South African, African, British, French, Dutch and Flemish art. Selections from the Permanent Collection change regularly to enable the museum to have a full programme of temporary exhibitions of paintings, works on paper, photography, sculpture, bead work, textiles and architecture.
- For more information, call +27 (0)21 467 4660
Bell-Roberts Gallery & Publishing
Bell-Roberts is one of South Africa's leading art galleries and bespoke publishing houses.
- www.bell-roberts.com
- Tel: +27 (0) 21 465 9108
Theatre
The Artscape Opera House
- www.artscape.co.za
- Tel: +27 (0) 21 410 9919
The Baxter Theatre
The Baxter Theatre is situated at the University of Cape Town and houses a variety of different shows in the 3 separate theatre halls.
- www.baxter.co.za
- Tel: +27 (0) 21 685 7880
Theatre on the Bay
Cape Town's most beautiful Theatre, Theatre on the Bay, is a cultural landmark on Cape Town's Atlantic Seaboard and undoubtedly home to the best shows in town. Located on the beachfront in Camps Bay the venue is perfect not only for a comfortable and relaxed theatre evening, but also for a mouth-watering pre-theatre meal at The Act One Theatre Café with its trendy theatrical ambience.
- www.theatreonthebay.co.za
- +27 (0) 21 438 3301
Cape Minstrel Carnival (Tweede Nuwe Jaar)
It has been said that the Cape Minstrel Carnival is South Africa's equivalent to the New Orleans Mardi Gras. For the month of January, minstrels from the coloured community dance through the Cape Town city centre singing traditional songs and playing banjos. The locals call the Minstrels 'Kaapse Klopse' which directly translated means 'Capetonians knocking' due to the noise that the minstrels or 'Cape Coons' make as they walk the streets.
The Carnival starts on the 2 January and lasts for the whole month. It has been nicknamed 'Tweede Nuwe Jaar' or Second New Years due to the huge and continuous party atmosphere in the city for the month. More than 13 000 brightly dressed minstrels, many wearing hats and waving parasols walk the streets. The carnival originated around 200 years ago in the 1800's. One story goes that the carnival was inspired by a group of African-American minstrels who docked in Cape Town and entertained the sailors with their spontaneous musical performances. Another story goes that the travelling minstrels were actually white and painted their faces black – hence the painted faces we see today.
The minstrel street parade starts in District Six and makes its way through the city centre. There are many mini-festivals which take place over the weekends in January in the City Centre, Bo-Kaap and Greenpoint.
For more information: www.capetownminstrels.co.za