Johannesburg Flaneur

"... there is something to be said for the joys of being a flaneur, even one in a taxi. As Walter Benjamin, that flaneur par excellence, said: it takes real skill to lose oneself in a city." (Business Day)

Jacob Dlamani, author of Native Nostalgia, reflects on the "joys of peregrination" in Johannesburg. In 2008, inspired by Ivan Vladislavic’s Portrait with Keys, Dlamani began exploring Joburgh on foot. Vladislavic didn't shy from the omnipresent risk of wandering in this dangerous city: "It is also a melancholic take on what it means to live in anxious times and to walk through a city filled with nervous energy." Dlamani also acknowledges the risk, recently having shifted from perambulations to vehicular meanders.

"My intention is to see Johannesburg from a different vantage point. This time, instead of seeing Johannesburg from the pavement up, I am trying to experience it from the relative “safety” of a minibus taxi seat." (Business Day)