Art festival, Contra.Joburg, invites art enthusiasts to experience Johannesburg through the artists, makers, performers and creative communities who make the city South Africa’s richest creative and cultural destination.

In its fifth year, Contra will be taking place on August 29-30 and is expected to bring together emerging and established artists across studios, galleries, creative spaces and heritage buildings, with Rosebank joining the route this year.

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Speaking at Candice Berman Gallery in Rosebank, the arts festival founder, Sara Hallatt, said this year’s event was about difference.

“Johannesburg is often described by all the things that are wrong with it, and what I ask of people is to focus on all the art that is being made by people who care about creativity.”

Hallatt noted that since Contra.Joburg’s inception, it was the first time a gallery such as Candice Berman would be participating, and it was chosen because there were a lot of different artists’ work that made up the gallery.

Conceptual artist Usha Seejarim, who is one of the participating artists, explained that several factors drew her to participating in this year’s festival: “It’s decentralised and in artists’ studios.

I have attended Contra.Joburg before and enjoy the concept of it. I also like that the audience that attends this festival is made up of families, youth and children.”

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What keeps Contra different is that the art stays close to the people and places where it is made.

Visitors can step into working studios, meet artists, see performances in unexpected places, make things themselves, eat, drink and discover parts of Johannesburg they may never normally encounter.

To help attendees move easily between spaces, a complimentary shuttle service will run throughout the day, looping between venues every 20 minutes.

Parking is available at each site, with shuttle access from every stop.

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