The Stellenbosch Art Mile - A Stroll Through Stellies’ New Outdoor Gallery

The Stellenbosch Art Mile is an outdoor gallery featuring interactive art installations and sensory experiences scattered on a 1-mile (or 1.6km) route (in each direction) along the Eerste River. Each piece of art has been carefully selected for its relevance, creativity, sensory stimulation, educational value and playful interaction. It invites visitors to slow down, connect and soak up some inspiration as art, nature and community come together.

I recently got to experience this special new attraction. If you’re looking for a scenic place to go for a walk, a gallery for a self-guided public art tour or a free thing to do in Stellenbosch, here are some of the reasons you should walk the Stellenbosch Art Mile:

The Inspiration Behind The Stellenbosch Art Mile

It all started six years ago when the project’s founder Charité went to Zurich, Switzerland. She was there visiting a loved one in a neuro-rehabilitation centre who’d suffered a traumatic brain injury. Around the centre was a circular route where both patients and visitors could walk. Sensory and interactive installations were found along this route and the patients and visitors were encouraged to engage with them. The idea was that this would stimulate neural pathways and encourage healing.

Charité saw the positive impact of these installations on her loved one. As a result of walking this route, she also witnessed a profoundly positive effect on the psyches and mindsets of her daughter who was three years old at the time and her father who had recently been diagnosed with dementia.  

That formed the inspiration behind the Stellenbosch Art Mile. Though the art mile is not necessarily focused on neurorehabilitation, it encourages people to slow down, reflect and ponder, which is likely to positively affect one’s mental health and mindset.  

This Year’s Theme

The theme for the inaugural year (up until September 2025) is "Tapestry of Time”.

According to the Stellenbosch Art Mile’s website, the exhibition “explores the progression of events along the river - from the past into the future - highlighting the unidirectional flow of time and the significance of memory in shaping human perception.”

The curator Clara Babette said that she was inspired by the scientific discovery of deep time. She explained some of the reasoning that went into her selection of the work and the artists featured:

“I thought it would be quite an interesting theme for us to reflect on, to think about time in relation to human experience, especially in the fast-paced modern society that we find ourselves living in today, where if you get an email you have to reply immediately. There’s this massive sense of urgency, and we really want to counter that with art. We want people to walk along this route and ponder and reflect, and actually just take a moment, spend some time and sit on a bench. Even if it’s just for five minutes, the effect that it can have on your psyche and your mental state is quite overwhelming.”

Many of the works play off the theme by playing with shifting shadows and how they change with the passage of time throughout each day. Some of the sites are permanent, some will rotate and some, like “Unsunk”, are created to ultimately be destroyed by the elements. Most seem open to nature — or the effects of time — taking over.

The Route: 

The 1.6 km route crosses six bridges over the Eerste River, stretching from the pedestrian bridge on Krige Street at Markotter to the Coetzenburg Bridge. 

My Experience of the Stellenbosch Art Mile

I met with my tour group at the Eerste Kaffeeversameling, a cute coffee shop located in a shipping container. Our guide was Clara Babette herself, the curator of the Art Mile.

Anyone who’s ever been to an art museum or gallery will know the feeling of having to “look with your eyes and not with your hands” for fear of being reprimanded. This is a different story. Located in parking lots and children’s play areas, and sometimes taking the form of a bench, you feel that you are encouraged to engage with the art, touch it, play with it or even sit on it. 

Some of my favourite artworks include:

GUARDIAN OF OAKS  - Dané Erwee

The first sculpture that you stumble upon before even leaving the parking lot is this twig sculpture depicting a squirrel. Clara explained that the eyes had been a later addition. One of the passersby felt that it was missing something. They didn’t vandalise the art, they improved it.

EXPLODED GEOGRAPHIES IV, 2024 - Ledelle Moe

This piece looks like a bunch of suspended pieces of concrete. As you get closer though, you see that those seemingly formless shapes have human features. The features of each mini-sculpture are more visible at different times of the day, greatly changing the appearance of the artwork with the shifting shadows.  

STUDY FOR RETURN I & II, 2023 - Ledelle Moe

Though it looks like two reclining figures in a state of sleep or death and one would normally feel a sense of reverence for such a piece, visitors are encouraged to use it as a bench. 

SPEEL SPEEL!,  2024 - John de Jager Studio

This is literally a table and chairs made with serpentine stone and Paarl granite. A grid is engraved on the top. Together with a number of stone tiles engraved with noughts and crosses, you can play the classic game. I love that the tiles had been chipped (indicating that they had been played with) but not stolen.

SERENITY, 2024 - Dr. Rose Kirumira Namubiru 

This is an interactive sculpture that is inspired by the Tibetan prayer wheel. To me, it feels like an oversized fidget spinner that beckons people like me to spin it just because it can be spun. 

OUTDOOR CLASSROOM

This piece was exactly what it sounds like. It seems like a great place for a poetry reading. I’m sure a number of creative people in Stellenbosch will take advantage of the free venue for use in their performance art.  (Note to self: Tell improv troupe about this.) I love how the very existence of this artwork facilitates the creation of more art.

UNSUNK, 2024 - Sivan Zeffertt                                                    

Created with cotton, steel wool, porcelain and rust, this temporary artwork is created to disintegrate over time.  Its decay is a challenge to traditional notions of permanence in sculpture.

SHIFTING SHADOWS, 2024 - Nina Kruger                                                   

This piece was made with thousands of Eucalyptus gum nuts, that were each individually drilled through. The organic parts of the sculpture are likely to erode with time. This sculpture is another one that plays with shadows and lighting, and changes throughout the day.

POETRY IN VIEW

This artwork currently features the poem Vroegherfs by NP Van Wyk Louw but the poem will change over time. It is also created to frame the mountains in the background as if it is including Stellenbosch within the piece itself. 

“EVERY WALK WITH NATURE…”

This artwork consists of 3D letters that spell out the first half of the John Muir quote “In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.”

The Eerste River is a beautiful place to walk especially in Spring. It makes for a very pleasant experience even before you add the art. I couldn’t help feeling that the quote has never been so true. 

What else I liked about it:

Never has reaching my step count been so enjoyable and oddly therapeutic. The whole experience really does help you to slow down, realise how fast life is moving, take in the beauty of Stellenbosch, ponder your own existential dread and the fleeting nature of your own life, realise that you are in a beautiful place so you must be going okay, and leave feeling content …while also considering moving to Stellenbosch. (You’ve been warned!)

How to Do the Stellenbosch Art Mile

Anyone can access any of the art free of charge.

The start of the Stellenbosch Art Mile can be found here on the pedestrian bridge on Krige Street at Markotter by the Eerste Kafeeversameling.

Alternatively, you can start on the Coetzenburg Bridge and do the route in the other direction.

The Eerste Kafeeversameling - How cute is this?

You can also find out more information about the art, download a map or sign up for a guided walkabout of the Stellenbosch Art Mile here. 

While you’re in Stellenbosch:

For more ideas for activities, restaurants and accommodation, check out How to Have a Perfect Winter Getaway in Stellenbosch. (The summer version is coming soon).