If there’s one person who can convince you to spend a weekend exploring Joburg’s studios, galleries and wonderfully unexpected creative corners, it’s Sara Hallatt. A passionate champion of the inner city and the people who make it tick, she has spent more than 15 years using art and culture as a way to bring people together and breathe new life into the city.
In 2020, she founded the META Foundation, a non-profit based at August House that supports artists through development programmes, mentorship and curatorial training. Its most visible undertaking is Contra.Joburg, the annual visual arts festival that throws open the doors to studios and creative spaces across the city and invites everyone in.
Contra.Joburg returns next weekend, August 29 and 30, for two days of art, artists, studio-hopping and discovering parts of Joburg you may not know nearly well enough. Before she gets very busy, we caught up with Hallatt for Eight Questions.
What’s the best book you’ve read in the past year, and why?
The Blinded City by Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon. The book was recommended to me by a colleague who also loves the inner city. It’s a fascinating portal into the lives of the people who inhabit it, and a story of resilience, survival, pain, heartbreak and the need to overcome.
How do you keep fit?
I have a walking pad at home, but I also like to get out and take my dogs to the park.
Weeknight, low-key restaurant go-to?
Mr George in Melrose Arch.
What is the one artwork you’ll always love, and why?
Van Gogh’s Almond Blossoms. There is something about the colour that keeps me coming back for more.
Do you have a hobby? What is it?
I silversmith. I’m very much a beginner, but it’s lots of fun.
The one unusual item you can’t live without?
Currently, it’s my jasmine tea.
Who was your high school celeb crush?
Johnny Depp. The weird, the wonderful and the brave.
Three songs you’d take to a desert island?
Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club, Portishead’s Dummy and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky.
Contra.Joburg takes place on Saturday and Sunday, August 29 and 30 2026. For the full programme and tickets, visit contra.joburg
