Curated by
the Welike Team
@team-welike
Cape Town keeps its contemporary galleries in a converted industrial strip rather than a museum quarter, and this is the walk through it: east along Sir Lowry Road, up Albert Road past the Biscuit Mill, and out into the Salt River supply shops that the rest of the street depends on. Twelve stops, about three kilometres, roughly forty minutes of walking before you stop to look at anything. Most galleries close on Sundays and some on Mondays — check before you go. One thing to know before you plan the day: the Neighbourgoods Market at stop five runs on Saturdays only. Walk this on a Saturday morning and it is the best stop on the route; walk it on any other day and it is a closed door you can skip straight past.
Art Galleries · Woodstock
Owner-run gallery on Woodstock's Art Mile, known for backing emerging South African artists working in conceptual and abstract idioms that other commercial spaces avoid.
Curator's tip
Start at the city end of Sir Lowry Road. Everything else on this route is east of here, so the walk only goes one way.
Art Galleries · Woodstock
Independent contemporary gallery opened as Michael Stevenson in 2003, representing leading South African and African artists from the Buchanan Building on Woodstock's gallery mile.
Curator's tip
The Buchanan Building, a few hundred metres on. Large spaces, so give it longer than the frontage suggests.
Art Galleries · Woodstock
Cape Town home of the independent gallery founded in Johannesburg in 1966, owner-run and focused on contemporary art within the African context by local and international artists.
Curator's tip
Third floor of Fairweather House — the one stop on the route you can walk straight past without noticing. Look up for the number.
Framing & Restoration · Woodstock
Independent Woodstock workshop established in 2008 offering bespoke picture framing and fine-art conservation for galleries, collectors and artists.
Curator's tip
Still on Sir Lowry. A framer rather than a gallery, and the first sign that this strip is a working supply chain and not only a shopfront one.
Food Markets · Woodstock
Independent weekend food and design market at the Old Biscuit Mill, founded in 2006 and credited with starting Cape Town's farmers-market scene.
Curator's tip
Albert Road, Saturdays only. If you are walking this route on a Saturday morning, start earlier and budget an hour here.
Art Galleries · Woodstock
Independent gallery established in 2008 in a decommissioned Woodstock synagogue, showing innovative contemporary work by emerging South African and international artists.
Curator's tip
Turn up Argyle Street. Off the main road, which is the point — this is where the route stops being a straight line.
Art Classes · Woodstock
Independent Woodstock art school running full-time fine-art diplomas and part-time evening and weekend classes in drawing, painting, sculpture and printmaking.
Curator's tip
Elson Road. An art school rather than a gallery, and the student shows are the reason to check the calendar.
Studios & Makers · Woodstock
Non-profit artist-studio complex in Woodstock founded in 1998, providing affordable working space to South African artists and an international residency programme.
Curator's tip
Greatmore Street. Working studios with a residency programme; access depends on what is open, so this is a knock-and-see stop.
Studios & Makers · Woodstock
Restored Woodstock mill that anchored the suburb's creative revival, housing designer-maker studios, craft stores and the weekend Neighbourgoods Market.
Curator's tip
Back onto Albert Road. The Mill is the anchor of this whole strip and the easiest place on the route to lose an hour.
Studios & Makers · Woodstock
Independent ceramics studio and gallery at the Old Biscuit Mill, co-founded by Andile Dyalvane, hand-building sculptural and functional work rooted in African design.
Curator's tip
Inside the Mill. Ceramics made on site, which makes it the natural pair to the studios you have just walked past.
Art Supplies & Dealers · Salt River
Independent fine-art materials store stocking premium local and imported paint, paper, brushes and printmaking supplies for artists across the Cape.
Curator's tip
Over the Salt River line into Brickfield Road. Paper and materials — where the work on this route starts rather than ends.
Framing & Restoration · Salt River
Independent Salt River framing workshop handling conservation and bespoke framing for artworks, prints, textiles and objects.
Curator's tip
Finish at the Brickfield and Factory corner. A framer to close a route that opened with one, which is the shape of the neighbourhood — but it shuts at half past twelve on a Saturday, so on market day this last stop is a morning errand or next week's.
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