Montebello Centre, Newlands Ave

This morning I visited Montebello Craft and Design Centre on Newlands Avenue in Newlands.

The centre is a non-profit organisation promoting job creation through craft, art and local design, and is located in the old farm buildings of Montebello in Newlands. Oh, and it’s pet friendly as well. Bring your mutt along.

It’s between Palmboom Rd and Dean Street, right next to SACS school. In terms of distance, it’s a 3 minute walk down the road from Forres (Forrester’s Arms) Pub.

The centre is a great place to spend an hour or two. It has a lovely rural/countryside feel as it is set under a number of shady trees and is incredibly quiet, given that it is in the middle of a suburb.

It is unpretentiously tranquil in a semi-forest, rural setting and hosts a number of cottage industries and a charming coffee shop with outdoor garden seating as well as indoor seating.

The coffee shop serves breakfasts, lunches and light teas. I had a light breakfast there with my friends and then took a walk around and chatted to the various entrepreneurs who are plying their trade.
First up I found a really interesting area where Right Mukare was plying his trade. Right is a chap from Zimbabwe who has been in Cape Town for 2 years and is a genius with wood carving out of tree stumps.

Have a look at some of these sculptures. Truly amazing.

Here’s a photo of Right himself. He can be reached on 078 613 2747 for orders.

: Right Mukare

After meeting with Right, I took a stroll and discovered a cabin where artist Linda Weaver was exhibiting her paintings. It was her first exhibit at Portobello and so I took some photos for you to see her work. You can reach Linda on 083 301 3301.

Here are some of Linda’s paintings.

Then onwards to a little shop “Mielie” with hand made handbags and jewellery. Ntsaphokazi was manning the cashier desk and making a hand bag at the same time. Ntsaphokazi can be reached on 083 402 6253.

The Montebello Craft and Design Centre is well worth a visit for a light meal and to explore the various crafts on sale. It’s one of the few places where the crafts don’t scream “tourist trap” at me, but instead seem to be genuine efforts on the part of local artists and craftsmen to bring their work to the public.

So get it together and visit the Montebello Craft and Design Centre.

Craft Markets & Centres, Pet Friendly, Southern Suburbs ... More | admin November 16, 2008