Do you remember the mixed grill, a popular dish on every platteland menu in the '70s and '80s? That's what you suddenly crave as you walk into the new Makers Village in Cullinan on a Friday morning on an empty stomach, cued by the aroma of something delicious sizzling on the coals at Fani Ndlovu's stand outside.
We were directed here by a Cullinan resident: "Just go down Oak Avenue until you get to No. 103; you can't miss the flutter of colourful cloths." We have no problem finding it. We walk through a large garden with tables underneath trees and under canopies of multicoloured strips of cloth to reach a stoep that's a gathering and exhibition space, complete with a Pudo locker system.
The inside of the huge shed-like building is reminiscent of a bazaar, a cheerful, colourful amalgam of a market, mini shopping centre, art gallery, workshop and restaurant. An impressive array of handmade items catches your eye: handbags, baskets, lampshades, coffee mugs, clothes, paintings, crochet and knitting, shelves with plants, pottery, paper art, wire- and beadwork, toys, hats, rugs, ornaments, pots and other decor pieces for the home and garden, scatter cushions, soap and bath salts, preserves, biscuits, sweets...
Many of these items are not only sold here; you can also watch some of them being made. On the one side of the market hall, workshop stations have been set up with tools and other equipment, such as sewing and hemming machines, table saws, a laser cutter and a 3D printer. Signs point the way to the "Upcycle studio", "Blacksmith", "Wood workshop", "Ceramic studio", "Sewing & design studio", and so on. There's even a clothes bank with second-hand clothes in an adjoining room.
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Esta historia es de la edición Winter 2024 de go! Platteland.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
There are few secrets in Verlorenvallei
All platteland towns have that one famous (or infamous) character who knows everyone's business. Meet Livia Hoogenboezem, the keeper of every piece of gossip in Verlorenvallei...
Make magic with winter's abundance
This winter menu is our invitation to look beyond the bewildered herb garden, move out of your comfort zone and bake a loaf of bread, appreciate the beauty of a head of cabbage, and invite the rain gods to the table to feast with you on venison pie, pudding and cake.
It takes a family
Christian Fry and his fiancé, Pippa de Lange, arrived at Dombeya with just a day to spare before the Covid-19 hard lockdown commenced in 2020. Their purpose was to save the Fry family farm from being sold. They've settled into life in their Elands River Valley haven now but continue to dream big and work hard.
For the love of birds...
They may be called birdwatchers but they are in fact using their ears. As Johan van Zyl discovered on his maiden outing as an \"avian tourist\" with BirdLife South Africa to find the 450 bird species that live in the Garden Route and Little Karoo.
To the babbling brooks of Sabie
Roughly every five years, Jaco and Jens Reverchon get itchy feet. They hopped around Cape Town, moved up north to the Greater Kruger and then, recently, put down roots next to the Sabie River where they live a peaceful life with their animals.
Creativity & community in Dinokeng
The driving force behind the successful Makers Village in Irene has now implemented the same concept in Cullinan, creating an incubator and exhibition space for entrepreneurs and artists. Platteland dropped in at this budding creative hub to find out what it's all about and came away impressed.
Willie Strauss Never an idle moment
A variety concert... that is how to approach your life and career when you want to survive as an artist living in the platteland. So says singer, lyricist and radio food expert Willie Strauss, who entices visitors to Die Sinkstoor in Cullinan with traditional offal and his mother's Bushmanland boerekos.
To die for
How do you avoid the tourist avalanche if you live in an Afromontane forest where holidaymakers descend in December? You drive to lonely outposts in the mountains of the Cape, says photographer Obie Oberholzer, and you make pictures rather than take them.
1 Fiat 500 2ha 4 boys...19000 miles!
When the go-cart that an engineer father had built for his four sons couldn't handle the tufty terrain on their 2-hectare plot in Montana, Pretoria, they hunted down a Fiat 500 in a salvage yard. They only wanted its suspension system, but Mom intervened, the car was saved, and those little daredevils clocked up an impressive 19000 miles - all without leaving the plot.
SUTHERLAND Cold town, warm hearts
Life in Sutherland in the Northern Cape isn't always easy, but even those who leave tend to return. Come with us to find out why.
