Kathy Munro

The secret of a successful visit to Museum Africa is to concentrate on one exhibition, so giving oneself reason to return for another visit. A recent question on the Breakfast Quiz of Classic FM about the first Traffic Light installed in Johannesburg, triggered just such a focused visit to Newtown, as I set out to explore an evergreen permanent exhibition on Johannesburg Firsts.  

It's a tucked away, almost hidden gem and l was delighted to meet Diana Wall, the Museum Africa curator who switched on the lights and gave me a free run of the space. Here you will encounter photographs, clear texts and a selection of artifacts pinpointing Johannesburg's "firsts".  The history of the city from early gold mining days to fairly recent changes in city structures falls into place. It's taken imagination and extensive research to compile the long lists of firsts, from first mining exploration to first skyscrapers, from first park to first dog show, first school to first university. Photographs of people, places, maps, buildings, dramatic events (such as the first explosion... the Braamfontein dynamite disaster) capture the evolution of the town from mining camp, to thriving metropolis. The sense of drama and pioneering endeavours, the hardship of early days come to life. 

Braamfontein Dynamite Explosion - A Johannesburg Album (Oscar Norwich)

In 1976 Anna Smith, City Librarian compiled a book (now difficult...

The recent articles about Vergelegen on the Heritage Portal brought back happy recent memories of our holiday stay in Somerset West over Christmas 2014. As we were there for two weeks we visited Vergelegen three times to enjoy the splendour of the estate, learn a little history, taste wine, develop a discerning palette, get lost in the maze, take a walk in the enchanted oak forest, sniff the varieties of herbs in the herb garden, marvel at the ancient camphor trees, go on a tour of the cellars and let the  grandkids scramble about on the children's play equipment. The walled gardens delight with the vistas of lavender, hydrangeas, agapanthus and roses. The views of the panoramic setting in the valley below the Hottentots Holland mountain in the distance are spectacular.

[Click here to view 'The Story of Vergelegen']

Marvel at the ancient camphor trees (Kathy Munro)

The walled gardens are a delight (Kathy Munro)

The tour of the wine cellars through the vineyards and to a hillside site with an underground circular cellar was extraordinary.  We were offered a personal lesson in wine making and marvelled at the size of the vast oak...

[Originally published 2 September 2015] The Standard Bank Gallery has put on something incredibly special and you only have until 12 September 2015 to see it. This is, of course, the Pierneef Exhibition. Kathy Munro, Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Architecture and Planning at Wits, visited the exhibition recently and compiled this absorbing piece. Enjoy.

The Standard Bank Gallery is an art gallery of distinction in Johannesburg. Their exhibitions are of a high standard, well researched, often beautiful and always stimulating. The current exhibition "Space for Landscape the work of  J H Pierneef" is no exception and its popularity has spread by word of mouth. It is a splendid "must-see now" exhibition. This is the first major exhibition of Pierneef's work in 35 years. Give yourself a visual treat and drop by at the gallery before the exhibition closes on 12th September. There are 56 works on display and remarkably four of the grand Johannesburg Station panels, belonging to Transnet have been brought to Johannesburg from their permanent / "on loan" home at the Rupert Gallery in Stellenbosch and given place of honour in the exhibition in the central gallery. The exhibition has been skillfully assembled by curator,   Wilhelm Van Rensburg. 

A gorgeous Witwatersrand Gold Mine drawing.  It is emphatically black and white but look at the handling of the clouds (Pierneef work photographed by Kathy Munro)

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The Rand Club is one of Johannesburg's great landmarks. It has a rich and controversial history and remains a major attraction for the public on occasions when access is arranged. Kathy Munro, Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Architecture and Planning at Wits, visited the Club recently exploring every nook and cranny and pondering the future of this iconic institution. The Club has been reinventing itself for a number of years but tough decisions lie ahead...

Johannesburg’s Rand Club is an historic city institution that survives on the original site where the first gentlemen’s club was built. It was regarded as an essential institution in the new mining town and following in the style of the Kimberley Club. Founded by Cecil John Rhodes and the early city founding fathers of Johannesburg in 1887, this was a club for the professional men of the town, those with political aspirations, the business leaders. All men of course. It is redolent of the Reform Club of London.

The Club is still an important visible presence in the city and remarkably survives. Reminding us that Johannesburg never hesitated to build in boom times, this is the third Club building, erected in 1904, the architects being Frank Emley and William Leck. The Club expresses a come-of-age solidity and visible success of Edwardian era Johannesburg. It exudes permanence. It was erected on two stands with the main entrance and frontage on Loveday Street. It is a four storey edifice and extends from Fox Street to Market Street. The style is classically Edwardian baroque with a nod towards art nouveau details. The structure was...

News emerged last week that the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) is considering using Joubert Park as a temporary taxi facility while upgrades to the Jack Mincer rank are made. This has outraged many Johannesburg citizens and organisations. In the article below Kathy Munro explores the history and significance of Johannesburg's oldest park. If you would like to see Joubert Park remain as it is feel free to sign this petition. For background and updates on the issue click here. 

Joubert Park is and always has been a city park for the people. Historically it is a much admired public space which has transitioned through the political, economic and demographic changes of the city. Its history is part of the fabric of the City of Johannesburg and our city fathers ought to be protecting and defending that park with energy, dedication and passion because it is a place of relaxation and a place to smell the roses in the inner city environment.

Parks are precious green spaces. In the case of Johannesburg, too many of our open spaces have been lost to a railway station here or a car park there and now the most treasured of Johannesburg parks is threatened with conversion to taxi rank, albeit temporarily. Once the taxis are inside the gates why will they ever move on. 

A colourful map by Gloria Hodge, dating from the 1986 Johannesburg centenary shows the city as it developed between 1886 and 1900. Joubert Park was already in existence as was the Wanderers Club and...

In the article below Kathy Munro, Associate Professor in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand, unpacks the layers of the wonderful friendship between Mohandas Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach. The piece was inspired by the unveiling of a statue of the two men in Rusne Lithuania in October 2015. Kathy also asks whether it is time for a similar statue to be created and unveiled in Johannesburg.

Friday 2nd October was Mohandas Gandhi’s birthday. The man who became the great Mahatma Gandhi was born in 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat, Western India to a Hindu merchant class family. Some two years later in 1871 (1st March) Herman Kallenbach  was born in 1871 in Žemaičių Naumiestis in the  Russian empire (today Lithuania) as the third eldest out of seven children of a German-Jewish family. His father was a Hebrew teacher and, later, a timber merchant.

Gandhi became a lawyer and studied law at the Inner temple in London. Kallenbach became an architect and studied architecture in Stuttgart and Munich. Gandhi first arrived in South Africa in 1893 and left to return permanently to India in 1914. He was assassinated in 1948.       Kallenbach emigrated to South Africa in 1896 to join his uncles and practised successfully as an architect in Johannesburg over the period 1896 to 1945 the date of his death. Kallenbach’s niece Hanna Lazar transported his ashes to Israel for burial on the Kibbutz Degania.

Gandhi married and had four sons and many grandchildren, great grandchildren and...