Art & Soul
Barbara Jackson
Barbara Jackson is an artist, ceramicist, teacher and co-pioneer of Monkeybiz, a non-profit craft organisation employing a collective of 450 HIV-positive women from Cape Town’s townships. Monkeybiz and her latest venture, Toi Toy, see Barbara exporting the notion of Cape Town as a cutting-edge creative hub and melting pot of cultures and communities.
I’m a born and bred Capetonian and I’ve always had such a strong connection with Cape Town. It’s a connection that language can’t define, it’s beyond an emotional attachment and it’s more than the result of living in a place of extreme beauty – I’ve always felt profoundly at home here. But there are some reasons I can pinpoint. It has always been the most liberal of South African cities. Even though the city I grew up in was a sleepy hollow under the shadow of apartheid, it became politically very exciting. Who can ever forget the exhilarating time of Mandela’s release – standing on the Grand Parade and seeing Nelson Mandela for the first time as a free man?
Since then, I’ve witnessed Cape Town becoming a multicultural city. Through my various professional and creative projects, I’ve been fortunate enough to be in contact with people from a cross section of cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. What sets Cape Town apart too are its esoteric tendencies. After all, it’s about positive energy. Not everyone will share this viewpoint. Your experience of life here is what you make it. Some people are negative about transformation, saying that nothing has improved, that it was better during apartheid.
I don’t surround myself with that kind of energy. My life here is about loving what I do and constantly looking forward to an adventure. My journey with Monkeybiz over the past seven years – an initiative to revive African beading and crafting and to create employment – has provided an entirely new perspective not only on living in Cape Town, but also on life and the human condition. I’m connected with women in the townships and our project has yielded results that are so meaningful. Transformation and healing are very tangible and give me great hope.
I reconcile the extremes of wealth and poverty here by facing the poverty and taking action. It’s really about working from within.
I always get very homesick when I travel. I miss the sheer beauty of the city, the clean air, the friendly people and the good food. I find that I’m selling Cape Town all the time when I’m away from her. Lately, I’m championing our new design aesthetic: evolved out of a sense of optimism, it’s a reflection of a new generation’s sense of national pride, after so many years of being cut off from the world during the cultural boycott. Travel provides perspective and what strikes me is how far we’ve come, how much a part of this global village we are.
I have many favourite spots, especially restaurants, as I’m usually too busy to cook. Haiku, 95 Keerom and Birds Café, which I love for its quirkiness, are some places I’ll visit for food. My every working day starts with coffee at Vida e Caffé. I get to satisfy my music addiction with a record browse at Hi-Five Music and Clothing or the African music store. For high design, I head to Twiice International and for a more local mix, African Image. I love spending time in Kalk Bay exploring the shops and I’m a big supporter of Cape Town institutions like the Labia cinema, the Long Street Antique Arcade and Clarke’s bookshop also on Long Street.
On the weekends, especially, I do love staying at home. I live in Bantry Bay in what for me is a minimalist space, surrounded by everything that feeds my soul – my art collection, natural materials, and a ceramics studio downstairs where I can literally potter. I have never lived far from water and have a beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean from my patio. I’m not a beachgoer, but I love walking on the beach, usually after sunset, and I always enjoy strolling down Sea Point promenade on a Sunday. The silly season (December to January) is probably the only time I become a real hermit – or else flee to Thailand!
There is really nothing about this city that I dislike. My view is that the world over, you will have what I call a fear factor – something over which you have little or no control, that you choose to allow to freak you out or not. It can be the fear of an earthquake or flood, or of crime or war. In this context, Cape Town is no different from any other city. How you live is not determined by geography, but by the choices you make. I choose to continue the work I‘m passionate about, to celebrate how far we’ve come, to live with purpose and adventure – to create.
ADDRESS BOOK
95 Keerom
95 Keerom Street, Gardens
021 422 0765
African Image
52 Burg Street
021 423 8385
www.african-image.co.za
Birds Boutique Café
127 Bree Street
021 426 2534
Clarke’s Bookshop
211 Long Street
021 423 5739
www.clarkesbooks.co.za
Haiku
33 Church Street (entrance on Burg Street)
021 424 7000
www.haiku.co.za
Hi-Five Music and Clothing
34 Kloof Street
5 Mooikloof Centre
021 422 5455/6
www.hi-five.co.za
The African Music Store
134 Long Street
021 426 0857
Long Street Antique Arcade
127 Long Street
021 423 2831
Monkeybiz
65 Rose Street, Bo-Kaap
021 426 0636
www.monkeybiz.co.za
The Labia
68 Orange Street, Gardens
021 424 5927
50 Kloof Street, Gardens
021 424 5927
www.labia.co.za
Twiice International
70 - 72 Bree Street
021 487 9060
www.twiice.com
Toi Toy
V&A Wharf, V&A Waterfront
082 553 1015
www.toitoy.co.za
Vida e Caffé
34 Kloof Street, Shop 1
Mooikloof Centre Gardens
021 426 0627
V&A Waterfront
021 425 9440
Thibault Square
021 421 3974
Cavendish Square, Shop L69 A
Claremont
021 683 9073
Canal Walk, Shop 404 & 406
Milnerton
021 552 3560
www.caffe.co.za