Last week saw another one of owner and developer Jonathan Liebmann’s blocks being ticked. From the beginning, he had the idea of creating a residential building that could double up as a constantly changing gallery space. Main Street Life teamed up with final year photography students at Vega and gave them an interesting brief. The idea was for them to take photographs inspired by the Maboneng Precinct, and then be able to put those prints on display right here on the visual arts floor of Main Street Life.
The whole exercise became a great of operations to come whereby those living inside Main Street Life are going to put their work up on display and invite members of the public inside the building to view their work. It also became a nice acknoledgment of the kind of insiration that can be found within the precinct, as every picture told its own story, and had its own charm that reeked of city life and the excitment felt about being in the city.
So construction has ended and The Bioscope has officially opened its doors. The Bioscope can officially take its place as the only independent art house and cultural cinema in Johannesburg. An accolade most first world cities have, that now Joburg can be proud to bear.
The cinema will be open 6 nights a week with films showing at 8pm every night. The popcorn machine has already done some loads, and the tickets been torn. check out the official site to see the program as it gets decided.
I wrote about this video months ago, and now its finally here. This is video for Maraza and Bobzin Dash feat Kay Soul that was shot right here in Main Street Life, back in the day when it was still a complete construction site, sans yours truly. The track One Foot in The game was rising the YFM charts last time I checked in with the guys, and looking back on the video now, Im glad we could provide what one could argue to be most killer city backdrop in town!!
For the last few months, owner Lauren Wallett has been searching our great land assembling some great local fashion and household design, all of which is now on display right here in Malva. With its firecracker opening last week, Malva can proudly announce itself to be the first store to have opened here at Main Street Life.
Lauren’s journey in finding all this creative talent, had her bump into the Cupcake Factory, a small bakery and catering operation lead by Cara De Kock (Pictured above). The connection was a match made in cupcake heaven, and the result of this meeting, has lead to ‘the factory’ now basing itself here in Malva permanently, and a metaphoric rain of chocolate sprinkles ever since!
Until the restaurant opens its doors in the coming months, both Malva and The Bioscope can look forward to a beautifully harmonious relationship that will result in Main Street Life resident and members of the public having having the following dreams become a reality; a never ending supply of popcorn, and the chance to now watch a film, and eat a cupcake…at the same time.
Detlef Hartung and Georg Trenz are the two men responsible for that amazing first exhibition in The Entrance Gallery. It was a honour to have spent some time in their company, and the two left proud of their latest work. The piece will be on display for the next three months, and photographs taken by the artists documenting the work will be on permanent display within the visual arts floor.
