Maboneng, Johannesburg's modern-art mecca

[María José]

South Africa's capital is positively afroth these days in creativity and the arts, and one of its premier epicentres is Maboneng Precinct. Centred on Fox and Kruger Streets, a quick cab ride east from Johannesburg's Sandton business district and overlapping Jeppestown, another creative neighbourhood, this once shabby, no-go inner-city district has since the middle of the last decade been reinvigorated and made "cool" by artists, hipsters, and entrepreneurs, à la Brooklyn's Williamsburg, Shoreditch in London, and various other urban hotspots around the world. And if you visit Joberg, it's a must.

The name means "Place of Lights" in the Sotho language, and Maboneng is now indeed a brilliant place, with a slew of public artworks, galleries, shops, eateries, and even accommodations. Folks both young and not so young here are unafraid of the new, and even small ideas can get turned into big deals.

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