Iziko ceramics at the Old Town House
Introducing a brand new tour!
Esteemed curator Esther Esmyol, who has spent her entire career at what is now Iziko Museums (retiring next year), will show us around the ceramics at the renewed Iziko Old Town House and then behind the scenes in storage nearby at Iziko’s Church Square (Iziko Social History building).
Ceramicist Michael Chandler will be joining us. A few of his hallmark blue-and-white wares were purchased for the national collection, specifically for Old Town House. He studied Humanities, worked in an auction house, and has since spent many years as an artist receiving commissions from around the world, as well as running his own shop, Chandler House, in the Bo-Kaap.
The exhibition, Reflections, is very much about Cape Town as a trade route and its influence on the arts here. Paintings by Old Dutch Masters, 19th-century Japanese prints, 17th-century VOC ceramics (Dutch East India Company), and other historical works from South Africa’s national collections are carefully placed alongside contemporary works by a wide range of South African artists, e.g. Mikhail Sabotsky, Jacques Viljoen, Haroon Gunn-Salie and Natasha Norman.
This is the first Culture Connect in the reopened Old Town House, beautifully restored and curated. It is a rare opportunity to see highlights of the national ceramics collection carefully stored.
Booking is essential due to the limited group size. Enquiries or reservations via mobile: +27 (0)72 377 8014 or email: kate@cultureconnectsa.com
Date: 21 August 2026
Time: 10:00 to 12:00
Cost: R300 per person paying before 10 June 2026, then R450 each, including museum entry
Start: Old Town House, Greenmarket Square, 149 Longmarket Street, central Cape Town
End: Social History Centre, 17 Church Square, central Cape Town
Image credit and thanks to Nigel Pamplin