David Krut Bookstore: A Blue Gem on Johannesburg’s Art Strip

A question for my bookworms! What is more romantic than passing time browsing through a bookstore? Hmm…yep, you guessed it! Working at one.

Imagine this…

It’s a quiet Monday morning…you open a black baroque-inspired gate, greeted by the smell of lavender and lemon verbena. Your ears kissed by bees humming in the summer and birds chirping all-year round. You walk down a tiled pathway, enclosed by a garden bursting with assorted flowers, vibrant green bushes, a splash of scented colour everywhere your head turns. You navigate your way around a stone fountain and lightly brush your fingers against the pink fuchsias that greet you like friendly fairies. You ring the bell.

If you’re lucky, Olly and Cosmo, the Charmer and the Play-Hard-To-Get  (in that order) are there to greet you in all their furry sweetness (bear in mind that this may mean an indifferent and slow pimp-walk, but feel flattered all the same). You find yourself in a square vicinity. You wonder where to turn to next…but not for long. You’re heart is guided to the one true place that makes sense to you. The place where the books are. Sooner or later you’re walking towards heavy wooden doors. Someone may tell you that their imported from India.  You find your hand resting on the imposing doorknobs that make you think of a classic Moroccan villa. Before both feet cross the threshold, you pause to peer down at a sequence of exquisitely patterned tiles. You look up to see a warm face, smiling and telling you, “Yes… this building was inspired by Frida Kahlo’s home in Mexico.” This is David Krut Bookstore. The blue gem on Johannesburg’s art strip, where for over a year I have been a part of an incredible team, selling books and learning about art.

How it began

I stumbled in by chance. I was on my way home from job hunting. The traffic around me was loud and the smell of Johannesburg seemed to find permanent residence in my nose. The taxi driver was about to pass this bright blue building until I asked him to stop. It’s been a long day, I said to myself. A bookstore will cheer me up! I walk tentatively through the garden both intimidated and enchanted. What on Earth is this place? These words kept circling in my head as I entered and browsed the bookshelves. The sense of mismatched-ness was even more intriguing. Next to a book of poetry, was a catalogue of artwork and then a travel-guide through wine estates. Again…What is this place? I had never seen so many African writers congregated on one shelf before? It felt like an archive of some sort. A literature alcove.

I asked, literally, “Excuse me but what is this place?” Honestly, I can’t remember what the exact response was and that’s absolutely perfect, because even till this day we still find ourselves sitting around the round blue table, trying to figure it out.

An art-bookstore…too mundane, not quite as attributive.

David’s personal library? Getting closer.

An eclectic, eccentric, art-bookstore with a whole bunch more in between? Wordy…but you get the gist. No matter. You know something is special when you can’t quite encapsulate it.

A Bit of Background

The bookstore began as a publishing house, where a man named David Krut published the country’s first monographs of contemporary South African artists. These are known as the TAXI Art Books. From then on it grew into a nurturer of artistic talent in South Africa, promoting writers and preserving art of all mediums. A great example would be the publication on the woman of Mapula Embroideries, which is an incredible organization in the Winterveld that empowers talented embroiders living in this historically-rich village. And this only touches the surface…

The Conversations

The best part about David Krut bookstore is ironically not just the books, but the people that browse through them. Working here you never know who you’ll meet or what crazy new thing you’ll learn. But you will know that one or the other will occur! From discussing the preservation of African alphabets with a lovely German woman who has a passion for isixhosa, to discussing the best travel routes in Peru with a lawyer from Brazil, to learning how a photographer uses art to cope with his ALS… the interactions I’ve had have been mind-blowing. In just a little blue house house in a buzzing Metropolis…the world finds its way to visit you. That is David Krut Bookstore!

151 Jan Smuts Avenue, THE BLUE HOUSE. Open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm and Saturdays, 9am-4pm.