In reading photographer Jac de Villiers’ tribute to his late friend Aida Uys, I was again reminded how a beautiful home is not really about the bricks and mortar that hold it up, nor the chairs and tables on which we live. With all due respect to those clever professionals who invite us to photograph their creations, an amazing space comes into existence as a result of the people who breathe life, style and soul into it.
It is such amazing spaces that we have sought out for this issue of VISI – the ones that live and breathe, and that are bursting with the personalities of those who live there.
Aida and her partner Braam Theron were (and he still is), the greatest collectors in Cape Town. We defy anyone to match their array of functional items, such as watering cans, gloves, gardening forks – you name it. What could so easily have been a cluttered mess is a study in curated collections that blows us away.
And even though my media friends who relocated to the Karoo really didn’t want to be identified (after years of sharing rather public lives with others, they are intent on making a true escape), you can see who they are from the New Yorker magazine covers on the wall and the made-for-long-lunches table with lanterns on the stoep overlooking the most hypnotic view in the world.
In another class altogether, the vision of volunteer Adrienne Feldner to facilitate the building of a designer home for the orphans of New Jerusalem was an immense one – but only once those smiling faces moved in, was the true value of this space felt. No wonder then, that one of the newest residents wrote on a picture above her bed: “My new home – a five-star hotel.”
And we watched for months as Swiss artist Kerim Seiler created his unbelievable candy-striped tree house on the roof of Arts on Main. We didn’t quite get it until Kerim himself moved in and occupied his hammock to enjoy the city of gold’s breathtaking skyline.
His amazing space was now a home. And that about says it all.
Until next time,
Jacquie Myburgh
Editor
