Pretoria is the main cultural center of South Africa. The following walking tour will lead you to the museums, galleries, theaters, and nightspots of the city's northern region and will show you the diversity of Pretoria's cultural life.
1) Pierneef Museum
This museum houses some of the masterpieces of one of the most famous artists of South Africa, landscape painter Jacob Hendrik Pierneef. His works can be found all over the world in private and public collections. The museum contains a significant selection of his work, including wood carvings, sculptures, and drawings, in addition to paintings, presented in both permanent and temporary exhibitions.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Jacob Hendrik Pierneef
2) South African State Theatre
South African State Theatre is not just a theatre. It is a complex of venues capable of hosting all kinds of artistic and commercial events, from opera, ballet, cabaret, film festivals, and children's theatre to weddings, parties, and product launches. The theatre plays a leading role in developing and training local performing arts groups.
Image Courtesy of Flickr and stuart001uk
3) Club Lambada
Club Lambada is a trendy place for fans of pop and house music. The atmosphere of the club is always joyful and exudes happiness. The most powerful sound system in the area attracts crowds of visitors, who dance all night long on the comfortable dance floor. Surrounding mirrors create an illusion of infinite space.
Image Courtesy of Flickr and ToastyKen
4) Pretoria Art Museum
The Pretoria Art Museum was built to preserve the constantly growing art collection assembled by the city council. The museum focuses on the "old masters" of South African art, including Pieter Wenning, Henk Pierneef, Frans Oerder, Anton van Wouw, Hugo Naudé, Irma Stern, Maggie Loubser and others. It also has significant holdings of graphic arts from the USA and Europe. The museum opened in 1963 and was expanded significantly in 1975 and 1988.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Laurens
5) Venning Park
Venning Park is a formal park with a rose garden, a tea garden, and many areas with colorful flowers that blossom all year round. It occupies an area of over seven acres, and is considered to be one of the most beautiful parks in Pretoria. The park is also famous for a variety of water features.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Laurens
6) Hatfield Galleries
Hatfield Galleries presents art accompanied by live music. The music is predominately jazz and blues, played by lesser-known local bands, but some artists choose heavier fare. As a result the gallery has become one of the most popular live music venues in the city.
Image Courtesy of Flickr and Horia Varlan
7) Edoardo Villa Museum
This museum, located on the campus of the University of Pretoria, houses 143 works of South Africa's most famous sculptor, Edoardo Villa. Villa, born in Italy, was first brought to South Africa as a prisoner of war, during World War II; after the war, he chose to remain in the country. Villa donated many of his works to the university, which opened the museum in 1995 to commemorate his 80th birthday.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Magda Engelbrecht