AT HOME EXPERIENCES: VIRTUAL STREET ART TOUR OF CAPE TOWN

Often, although tours are called one thing on the surface, they may have much more to them deeper down. This street art tour of Cape Town was exactly that. Although we were shown various different areas around the city and the street art that decorated the walls, this tour was really about culture, class, history and the people who make up Cape Town. As someone who has unfortunately never been to South Africa, this was a real experience for me. 

We’ve been on quite a few virtual Airbnb experiences at this point in time, and although the virtual tours of a city far away may not sound as exciting as cooking lessons, wine tastings and magicians, they may actually be one of my favourite at-home experiences available. Connecting with another person from across the world (who you may never have met otherwise) and learning all about a culture that we currently cannot experience first-hand is a fun way to spend one hour on a casual weekday during a pandemic. 

My guide for this tour was Gabrielle, a local to the area and big fan of street art and the freedom it gives the artist to express patriotic, political and inspirational messages as well as sometimes just good art! 

The session began with everyone in the group taking it in turns to explain where they are from in the world and describing a little about what their town/city is like. Although there was 7 people on the call, most were from Virginia, USA, one was from Florida, USA and I was from London, UK. 

There’s a lot of pressure in situations like these, as you feel like you alone are representing your whole country/city. However, it was enjoyable to learn more about locations in America as an added extra, unrelated to the tour itself. 

Next, Gabrielle began her slides and explained that we would be going through the street art from area to area. She explained that the difference in the art styles of each area will tell you a lot about the places themselves. We started with Bo-Kaap and the colourful houses of the area, as well as the heritage murals dotted around the neighbourhood that represent the history of the Islamic Cape Malay people and all the Indonesian and Malaysian slaves brought to Cape Town. 

We then moved onto Woodstock, which is often described as a ‘cultural hub’ of Cape Town. This area is known for its legal street art, local artists and designers are commissioned to create colourful and purposefully ‘Instagramable’ building artwork.  

We then moved onto the Salt River area, where the artwork was a lot more freeform and unstructured. She talked us through a few of the murals that are in this neighbourhood, and explained that these are all very much illegal pieces of art.

Next, we stepped into Langa. Langa is a township in Cape Town. For anyone who doesn’t know, townships were first created to force African people into segregated areas. These areas are the poorest in Cape Town. Gabrielle explained that the word Langa means ‘sun’ and there were reflections of this in some of the art she showed us. 

She then told stories of the way communities in the area had used street art to help combat issues with crime and gangs by encouraging youths to take up a new hobby that they enjoy. She continued to explain the art exemplified the people of the area, with a lot of Black representation in the art itself.  

Finally, as an added extra, Gabrielle took us through small pieces around Cape Town that are used as a form of protest to the government. These were all centred around political and topical issues the country faced. Many were centred around race and poverty. 

This tour was a truly interesting way to spend an hour one evening. Through Gabrielle’s images and words, I not only got a feel for what Cape Town looks like, and learned about the people who make up the culture and energy of the city. I heard uplifting and inspiring stories of rebellion, change and community through the medium of street art. I would recommend this tour to anyone who was interesting in discovering the same.