Reflecting on Anais Ninn's brief for the bar on the eve of our writers week

Posted on Thu July 25, 2024.

It's an Art hotel. But is it an Art bar ? The thoughts of Anais Ninn the famous mid 19th century writer and author of an outrageously erotic personal diary that shocked society gave us some direction.

I saw a beautiful quote about writing attributed to Anais Ninn emblazoned across a 2nd hand coffee cup in a Kalk Bay bric a brac shop; "I write so that I might have a place to live". It was actually a misquote but for me it sums the  attraction of writing  up perfectly. Then more recently I came across another quote - this one specific to place;

Author and erotic diarist Anais Ninn

 

“I need a place where I can shout and weep, I have to be a Spanish savage at some time of the day. I record here the hysteria life causes in me. The overflow of an undisciplined extravagance. To hell with taste and art, with all contradictions and polishings. Here I shout, I dance, I weep, I gnash my teeth, I go mad – all by myself, in bad English, in chaos. It’ll keep me sane for the world and for art”.

Anais Ninn. Incest: From “A journal of love”. 27 October1933.

"To hell with taste and art". 

Further Reading

Helen Van Stolk took our ideal of the hotel as a creative salon and made it a reality Tue August 4, 2026

At the flick of a switch Cape Town artist Helen Van Stolk filled the entire hotel with a group of top artists and sculptors with no agenda beyond just a shared time of inspiration and talent, fulfilling a long held dream that we'd become a home from home for people of this ilk.

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A reason to book into Barrydale, The Karoo art hotel's early morning swim club in the Tradauw Pass
The Karoo Art's Barrydale To Do list is leading to longer stays Tue August 4, 2026

When you read our Trip Advisor reviews there's still many a client wishing they'd made more of a stay of it. But it's less and less as case or a one night stand these days thanks to a bulging village To Do list

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The town of the year is worth more than just a one night stop Mon August 3, 2026

Two journalists had checked in the night before. It was a our Christmas party. We were closed for the day. But at breakfast they were so full of questions that Wayne never boarded the party bus to Warm Waterberg and committed the morning to showing them the dorp. Only later did we find out why they were in town. The things he showed them are why the town is changing from a...

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