Events in Johannesburg

Get Ready for the Biggest Arts Festival in Johannesburg!

Published

11 months ago

May 18, 2023

In 2022, we welcomed more than 2000 visitors to OpenStudios.Joburg. The event gave them access to over 100 working artists in their natural habitat – the studio space. In May 2023, we are back with more artists and spaces for visitors to engage with. Come and celebrate Joburg as one of the world’s art cities, fuelled by a network of studio spaces throughout the inner city that gives life daily to the city’s status as an art capital.

The 2023 edition of OpenStudios.Joburg will highlight art buildings, spaces or projects across the historical CBD, where visitors will be invited to meet the artists, interact with the works, and enjoy a programme of exhibitions, walkabouts, performances and design.

OpenStudios.Joburg will take place over two days, Saturday, 27 May and Sunday, 28 May 2023, with selected studios being open on these two different days. The studios will be linked via a shuttle service that will allow visitors to safely explore the city. The shuttles will move in a loop between the buildings, with transport available every 20 minutes until 16:00. Tickets went on sale from 20 March 2023 and can be purchased here: Saturday, 27 May and Sunday, 28 May, for R55 each.

We are extremely excited to announce that Nando’s has joined OpenStudios.Joburg as a sponsor. Nando’s is truly passionate about nurturing and showcasing Southern African creativity. The company loves sharing Mzansi’s art, design, and music talents with the world in a way that makes a positive, meaningful difference.

Source: Facebook / @ Nando’s

Although it is known for its PERi-PERi chicken and cheeky advertising, the long-running Nando’s Art Initiative, and the Nando’s Creativity programmes that have followed on from it, mean that many people around the world also associate Nando’s with exciting Southern African art. Since it began investing in art in 2001, Nando’s has grown its art initiative to include five different artist development programmes. “Our programmes have supported more than 350 artists on a regular basis and our art is displayed in 1200 restaurants in 24 countries. We have more than 21 000 artworks in our collection, making us the largest private collector of contemporary South African art in the world,” says Kirsty Niehaus, Nando’s Marketing Manager: Creativity Portfolio.

The partnership between Nando’s and OpenStudios.Joburg is a natural progression. OpenStudios.Joburg seeks to expose more South Africans to the joy and wonder of art and to really engage on a meaningful level with the visual arts, artists and the institutions that support them, while Nando’s is working to become the heartbeat of Southern African creativity.

“We’re excited to be partnering with OpenStudios.Joburg this year because it resonates deeply with us as a brand,” says Niehaus. “Our Nando’s head offices, known as Nando’s Central Kitchen, are in a historic part of Johannesburg that we have worked hard to showcase as a hub of creativity. This event not only gives visitors an opportunity to experience that creativity inherent in Joburg and in Nando’s for themselves, but to discover new art, artists and studios, and enjoy the work they are producing – all in the intimacy of the studio environment.”

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This partnership will see a celebration of Nando’s Creative Exchange (NCX) artist alumni Sifiso Temba and Creative Block artist Sello Letswalo, who are both in residency at the Spier Arts Trust studio space at Victoria Yards, will participate in OpenStudios.Joburg. by opening their studio, hosting event goers and will have Creative Block artworks for sale on Sunday, 28 May.

Artist Mduduza Twala, who has more than 100 artworks in the Nando’s collection in Casa’s in South Africa and London, has been sponsored a three-month residency at August House and an opportunity to show off his talent at OpenStudios.Joburg.

Nando’s Creative Exchange at RMB Latitudes, as an extension of NCX opportunity giving artist exposure to the market, Nando’s has sponsored the NCX 2022 artists: Vilile Soha, Tanja Truscott, Sifiso Temba and Simon Venter to Exhibit at RMB Latitudes at Shepstone Gardens, Johannesburg from the 26 – 28 May.