Introducing THE INTERVAL

There's a gap in Johannesburg's creative economy that nobody quite talks about: the people running it barely know each other.

Venue managers, producers, festival organisers, funders, educators — the whole ecosystem that keeps the city's cultural life running — mostly meet in rooms built for something else. A funding pitch. A panel. A launch with a guest list and a reason to perform. Real peer relationships, the kind that actually make future collaboration possible, rarely get a proper chance to form.

The Interval is our attempt at giving them one.

It's a monthly, low-stakes mixer for anyone working in or around Johannesburg's arts and culture sector — no panels, no pitching, no agenda beyond a room full of people who understand exactly what your week has looked like. Hosted by Lesedi Shubane, The Interval is designed to be the kind of gathering you can drop into without preparing anything, and leave without having to report back on what you achieved.

That's deliberate. We're not convening this to generate business for House of Shem, and we're not measuring it by outcomes we can put in a report. We think Johannesburg's creative economy is one genuine common room away from working better together — and we're trusting that process to do its own quiet work, rather than engineering it toward a result.

The first edition of The Interval takes place on 27 August, from 17:30 to 20:00, at Gabriella's Tea Room, Ciro's Mediterranean Cucina. It's self-pay and drop-in — come when you can, stay as long as suits you.

Going forward, The Interval will run on the last Thursday of every month, in the same spot, at the same time. No RSVP required, no dress code beyond your own, no reason to attend other than being part of the sector.

If that's you, we'll see you there.

Ag shem, the creative economy needed a common room.