T-9: Trapped in Tuscany

Johannesburg's hysterical materialism, nouveau rich sensibility, frontier paranoia and aspirational culture combine in the form of Italianate architecture, sculpture and design. What is it about the putti, fountains and cracked walls of la bella toscana that inspires people (or tricks them) into believing that they have reached their highveld ambition? Who made naked boys the ne plus ultra of achievement? (Sure, the Vatican did, but not officially).

Truth is, Joburg is and always has been a scruffy, dusty frontier town, the Wild West, where fortunes are won and lost on the throw of a dice or the whim of a railroad. Personally I prefer the ramshackle side of the town, the weatherbeaten sections the Tuscanati never visit. At least there's something real about them, their decay isn't postponed, and it certainly isn't sprayed on for effect.

Still, the Tuscan theme remains a mystery. Maybe it's because the upwardly mobile consider themselves the pillars of the community?