Women’s Day weekend: Top three activities at Solo Studios

Eat at a long table, drink wine from some of South Africa’s best producers, listen to classical music or poetry, or take a hike above the valley – there’s so much to cover your canvas in addition to art gallery and studio hopping at Solo Studios 2024 this Women’s Day weekend from 9 August till 11 August.

This year’s event in the quaint Swartland town of Riebeek Kasteel offers abundant ways to fill your cultural, culinary and even adventure dance card.

We’ve rounded up things to experience in the Riebeek Valley during Solo Studios 2024, in association with Geddes and 1 Royal Street Guesthouse:

1. Take a seat at the long table

Isabella Niehaus, the well-known Riebeek Kasteel resident chef, stylist and internationally renowned cookbook author, will bring her edible art to the table with Solo Studios’ series of Long Table dining events.

Niehaus was recognised by the World Gourmand Book Awards with first place for her book Duinhuis in the category of entertainment and Best Vegan Cookbook for her collaboration with artist Louis Janse van Vuuren titled There’s a Vegan on My Stoep.

Enhanced with wine pairings from Swartland producers, the dinners on Friday, 9 August and Saturday, 10 August – which will seat 14 guests only per night – will be a gastronomic celebration.

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The table will be set at the Potager Kitchen of Jan Seidel, at The Valley Potager, overlooking his vast and magnificent fruit, vegetable and plant garden.

2. The curtain rises

This year, Solo Studios is going to showcase a variety of performing arts, including poetry and music ensembles.

Fresh from a successful run on the London stage, winner of The Special Jury award at the Bitesize Theatre Festival in London, multidisciplinary artist, writer and performer Aldo Brincat will give two performances of his solo theatre smash hit The Moon Looks Delicious From Here.

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The one-man show is a dynamic semi-biographical retelling of a relationship between a loving father and son.

Along with his participation as an exhibiting artist at Pictorex, observational photographer, poet and producer Rudolph Willemse will bring his production of Swartland to Solo Studios, featuring Afrikaans poetry from his third volume of poetry.

Swartland is about the Swartland region, but it is also symbolic of the country. The world at large and the poet’s own state of mind.

It is a rather dark place, characterised by load shedding, crime and corruption.

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But it also speaks of love, vulnerability and coming to terms with change, old age and an imperfect world.

The show is underpinned by humour, irony and satire.

Willemse’s previous volume of poetry received acclaim at past Solo Studio events, and Swartland promises to be a continuation of this artistic journey, in collaboration with well-known actor Marcel van Heerden and Schalk Joubert, internationally acclaimed bassist, composer and producer.

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The Winelands Philharmonic Orchestra will perform a concert featuring internationally renowned South African violinist Eriel Huang.

Works to be performed include Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor, with Huang as guest soloist; Copeland’s Appalachian Spring, originally composed for the Martha Graham ballet in 1945; and Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No. 2, a piece that diverges from modernist tendencies and draws inspiration from the composer’s painter and dancer friends.

Also hitting the stage will be singer-songwriter Wren Hinds, a Cape Town-based artist who recently signed a full record deal with the iconic UK-based record label Bella Union.

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3. Studio strolls: intimate encounters with local artists

One of the hallmarks of Solo Studios is the opportunity to get up close and personal with the talent.

This year’s participating artists include Sharon Bischoff, Wiehan de Jager, Ade Kipades, Solly Smook, André François van Vuuren, Riaan van Zyland, Emma Willemse, Lizette Visser, Kevan Moses, Paul Kristafor, Wiehan de Jager, Gordon Williams, Sharon Bischoff, Andries Dirks, Carin Dorrington, JP Meyer, Katja Abbott, Misha Hilier and Louis Nel.

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Additional information

• Solo Studios 2024 is taking place in Riebeek Valley on Women’s Day weekend.
• Tickets can be purchased via the Solo Studios website at www.solostudios.co.za and Webtickets.
• Accommodation is on www.solostudios.co.za accomodations.