Cape Town: ArtsCape has been recognised by the Time Out Magazine as a leading international authority on entertainment and culture. The honour highlights the ongoing commitment to enrich the arts and cultural landscape.
Considering the win, ArtsCape has extended a heartfelt thanks to all the patrons, producers, artists and stakeholders for their unwavering support and continuous contributions to drive the mission forward.
The institution also extended their sincere gratitude to the key partners – National Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, the Western Cape Provincial Government and the City of Cape Town, of which ArtsCape is proud to be a destination partner, for their invaluable role in supporting arts and culture.
One of the leading travel publications of London ‘Time Out Magazine’ has crowned two African cities among the world’s best cultural destinations. The recognition is a result of freshly updated roundup of the best cities in the world for culture that included 19 brilliant hubs that are top-tier places for an art and culture fix at present and two of them are from Africa.
The first and foremost one is definitely Cape Town. 89% of the locals they spoke to positively rated the cultural offering of the city, citing the events such as ArtsCape, Cape Town Jazz Festival, Kaapse Klopse Carnival and the First Thursdays.
The city has been placed at tenth on the culture ranking, yet came first as the world’s best city overall.
Time Out Content Director for South Africa – Andrew Hallett said that Cape Town’s culture scene has seen an explosion of talent over the last few years. He marked, “Take Dweba Art & Cafe, a new resident of Longmarket Street, where artists fearlessly confront contemporary issues through diverse visual languages over a cup of coffee.”
“We’ve seen an impressive run of stage shows, including Dear Evan Hansen, which local actor Stuart Brown shone in,” noted Hallet.
The second city of Africa recognised as best cultural destination is Marrakech, placed at seventh and received positive review of its cultural scene from 68% of locals.
Specifically, the local expert – Paula Hardy wrote, “Contemporary art gallery MACAAL has recently been revamped and showcases thought-provoking exhibitions, as does Comptoir des Mines Galerie.”
According to expert Hardy, Riads, too, contribute to the cultural conversation, hosting conversational salons, artist residencies and artist-led experiences.
“The best can be found at Dar Al Dall, Jnane Rumi and Riad Jardin Secret, who are behind soon-to-open gallery Rigotang,” concluded Paula Hardy.