Sunday, November 20

At 7 a.m. on November 12, the sun is already high in the Johannesburg sky. The rooftop bar of the 12 Decades Hotel is deserted, and looking down from there, the red roofs of the Arts on Main complex lie dead ahead.

All the rooms in the hotel are decorated by artists or designers. It’s a really cool place to stay.

My room, decorated by Dokter and Misses

I am in Johannesburg for an intensive conference on public art organized by Stephen Hobbs and Marcus Neustetter of the Trinity Session. On the first day, there’s a packed programme of presentations of public art and architectural interventions from around the country. The Johannesburg Development Agency has a policy in place that allocates 1% for art on public building projects – would the rest of the country please take note.

On day two, conferees can choose between tours of public art in Soweto, or in the inner city parks. A difficult choice, but I am interested in taking a look at Hillbrow and the city centre in their current manifestations, and it’s good to see how heavily the parks are used on this Sunday morning.

Mpho Mpolokeng talks about his playground project, next to a sculpture by Marco Cianfanelli

By 6 p.m. we are back up on the roof. By now, it’s pumping.

Donna Kukama and Roger van Wyk at the rooftop bar.