In May 2012, the Goethe Institut organised a number of events in the context of the Shoe Shop festival in the metropolitan area of Johannesburg.The festival was about the cultural exploration of movement. In South Africa and especially in Johannesburg, movement and public space are notions of importance in a social as well as in a historical perspective. 

Apart from the role of everyday walking the festival reflected on exceptional walks such as those that are part of migration. Questions like „where do you come from?“ and „where are you going?“ were of special interested.

Enlarge image "Pieds Rouges" (© Emmanuel Bakary Daou, Pieds rouges, 2011) The aim of the Shoe Shop festival was „to collaborate and provide a dense and fluid space for a critical reflection and support of movement, mobility and migration.“ Therefore, a number of different events were offered: The exhibition of photographers’ work in public places all over Johannesburg materialised the notion of public space. 

During the whole festival, the Shoe Shop project space in Braamfontein was open providing a venue for presentations, a workspace for different artists and a starting point for artistic city walks and performances. The heart of the festival were these city walks guided by architects and artists. 

They conveyed Johannesburg's symbiosis of city, culture and movement in a unique way. Moreover, the Shoe Shop festival presented a collection of films and offered a workshop on the motive of walking in African cinema. The Shoe Shopbook provided broad contributions of various artists and created a critical and thoughtful space to consider walking as a way of movement and migration in Africa.