The Artivist – an ideal blend

ART EXHIBITIONS AND PANAFRICANISM

Atall woman in what looks like an African take on Louis XIV’s costume is tripping out of The Artivist. My eyes follow her as she flits across Reserve Street, itself a head-turner with a sky garden and pedestrian feel, almost hidden in Braamfontein.

Within, past double-volume dark glass windows, sits a man in rugby-style blue shorts. And then there’s everyone in between.

It is Pan-Africanist. It is activist. It may be these and more “ists”, but it just is. It’s the genuine ideal at this time, reflecting the best of this city.

This month’s art exhibition is by acclaimed Kudzani Chiurai, some works created before Zimbabwe’s change of power look surprisingly relevant, no matter whose government is at what stage.

The owners, both DJs now at a reflective time in their lives, with families, wanted this gallery cum restaurant cum bar cum club to be there for them as their own tastes have moved and their standards honed.

All the food is the exquisite version of comfort food, breakfasts unusual and beautiful. I know the coffee’s excellent because that’s what I’m having as part of my cocktail, it was that delicious last time. Bartender William Maphoso asks how I like it now that he’s using coffee from the new barista instead of cold brew as the base. I admit it’s even better.

The manager is Athi Sityana, crisply witty and entertaining. I hear him discussing with a customer his Johnny Walker order. “Double? OK then, the double double.”

He also shows me the Untitled Basement, softly comfy in whisky colours. As the owners moved on from the hip-hop of their earlier days they melded it with jazz.

“It depends how popular the act is whether we put them behind or in front of the metal screen,” grins Athi.

We continue our chat upstairs because Braamfontein can be many things but I haven’t seen students here this evening or before. “The Artivist is a place for real live conversations”, he insists. “Most people are mid-20s upwards. The working class.”

Over a bar snack of dombolo soldiers and garlic butter with Heather, I muse how different our class system is on this continent. Our upper class is just ridiculously wealthy. Our lower class, often poorly educated, simply can’t get work. Our middle class is actually the “working class”, lucky to have good jobs, be they creative, office-based or academic.

The Artivist, 7 Reserve Street, Braamfontein.

Founder Kenneth Bekizizwe Nzama, aka DJ Kenzhero “What more can I say”, features a retrospective of his iconic protest posters and a series of some of his new drawings.

If you’re unfamiliar with his work, you definitely need to check it out.