FIVE STAR GUIDE
Kate Crane Briggs
Art Extraordinaire
WHO IS Kate Crane Briggs ?
Kate is originally from the UK and has been involved in art and museums for her entire professional career: after a degree in Art History, she worked variously for the Natural History Museum, then the National Portrait Gallery and then directed the Royal Drawing School. She moved to Cape Town in 2010 and set up Culture Connect SA to guide the discerning and culturally sensitive traveller through the myriad of creative outpourings that this corner of Africa has to offer.
Kate’s tours are always bespoke: she offers open tours which allow disparate groups of travellers and Capetonians to access normally limited access exhibitions, events and workshops but also private tours where you’ll meet curators, collectors, art establishment owners and artists as part of an immersive art experience created for you personally.
Kate has two children and lives in Rosebank, Cape Town.
GUIDE SPECIALISMS
To navigate this increasingly diverse landscape of creativity, particularly if your visit to the Cape is a short one, requires someone who can talk authoritatively about African architecture, design and visual art and Kate, with her global education and local perspective, is just such a person. From her corporate and art world contacts she’s able to secure access and private viewings of some of the most exclusive private art collections and foundations of South African art in the Winelands and Cape Town, as well as provide context and history to more publicly accessible artistic landmarks like the Norval Foundation, Zeitz MOCAA and Iziko South African National Gallery.
Whilst Kate can offer a general approach to art and artistic culture in the Cape, she can also focus on specifics, so if you have a particular interest in sculpture, furniture design or interior design, she’s able to build a tour just around your particular interest. Whether you are interested in the street art found in the working class neighbourhood of Salt River, a visit to the studios and workshops showcasing fine art beading, sculptors and painters, or in purchasing contemporary art and design, Kate has the knowledge and contacts to get what you’re after. Her city centre walking tour tells the story of Cape Town and South Africa through the architecture and design that we see, and offers a unique way for travellers to experience Cape Town's people and their art.
After a day with Kate, you’ll have been fully immersed in the myriad artistic beauties of the Cape and will come away with an understanding of both modern and contemporary African creativity that no other tour can offer.