Keyes Art Mile celebrates its one year anniversary

A little more than a year after opening its doors to the public, Johannesburg’s Keyes Art Mile has become firmly entrenched as a ‘must see’ destination for tourists looking to satisfy their cultural thirst for that particular blend of South African top-notch art, design and food.

Similarly, the precinct has stolen the hearts of locals as a superb spot for sundowners with an unforgettable view, the best burger in town, a sublime fine dining experience, a showcase of contemporary African art and furniture by leading international industrial designers, not forgetting the most enviable sneakers collection and a select crop of street-front stores that boast local ingenuity at its most authentic.

The best part of the Keyes Art Mile is every visit offers a surprise of refreshingly new tastes and visual experiences, keeping the regulars inspired and the first-timers in awe. While the music on First Thursday’s spills out onto the newly cobbled avenue lined by vendors of the artful food and fun-filled drinks variety, new exhibitions opening at steadfast intervals create a different experience altogether.

Keyes Art Mile has made great progress with their vision of a greener cityscape – ever determined to invert the hierarchy of cars, bicycles and pedestrians to pedestrians, bicycles and cars. Pavements have been widened, cobbles have replaced tar and the population of large trees has grown from one to 21 – all African wild olive and Buddleia trees, which are indigenous to this area.

And the highlight is a vertical field of indigenous grasses and bulbs that covers the Keyes-facing wall of St Theresa’s School.

“The confines of a traditional urban grid system doesn’t give us the luxury of open spaces, so we went upwards instead, to create a vertical field that uses plants specific to the very same biome that originally thrived in Rosebank,” said Anton Taljaard from Tomorrow Co, the development company behind Keyes Art Mile.

“It’s a living, growing, breathing experiment – much like a story unfolding. It will evolve over time, but it has already made a remarkable difference to the temperature of the west-facing classrooms, which bake in the afternoon sun.”

With a fully developed precinct plan signed off by the City, we’re looking forward to more in years to come. Keyes Art Mile, even in its year-long infancy, is ensconced in the life and times of the Johannesburg bustle.

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