Bubblegum Club

Tag: dear ribane

  • The performers bringing SA flavour to M.I.A’s shows

    The performers bringing SA flavour to M.I.A’s shows

    M.I.A will be performing for the first time in Africa in Cape Town and Johannesburg on the 7th and 8th of June, and some of South Africa’s best talent will be sharing the stage with her. The selection of DJs and performers bring together sonic and creative experiences that touch on South African genres and their evolution. K-$, Jakinda, and Angel-Ho, will inject SA flavour at the performance in Cape Town, passing the torch to Buli, DJ Doowap, Phatstoki and Dear Ribane the following evening in Johannesburg. I interviewed the supporting artists to find out about their connections to M.I.A’s work and what audiences can expect at the shows.

    This will be the first time Cape Town will get to experience one of Angel-Ho’s live sets. When asked about the connection M.I.A’s fearlessness and determination and their own musical journey, they expressed that, “being fearless is something I grew into, being on stage my whole life, I developed a strong sense of self playing the roles of many characters. The same sensibility and comfort of performing is my greatest strength and I think that speaks to my journey to empower the voiceless.” Buli shared similar sentiments stating that, “I’ve always stayed true to my sound. I’ve never compromised my art for the purpose of trying to appeal to mainstream/commercial crowds. I think that’s the one thing I’ve always taken away from observing M.I.A as an artist. She always stays true to herself and sound; she never tries to compromise her music or herself.”

    K-$ will be kicking off with a 2 hour set, taking the audience on a trip down memory lane, and then increasing momentum for a real jol. Jakinda will draw on his Afro-futurist and industrial sound, while allowing space for experimentation. Phatstoki’s appreciation of feeding off the crowd’s energy will be the guiding premise for the set. As someone who enjoys re-inventing herself through fashion and music, DJ Doowap will be mimicking her brightly coloured hair and striking clothing with bass tunes. Transcendental and futuristic will be the name of the game with Dear Ribane, while Buli brings together a mix of electronic and ambient elements backed up by hip-hop based/inspired drums.

    With fearlessness, determination and an understanding of the connection between music and movement as the thread that is present in the journey’s and work of each performer, these shows are definitely not ones to miss.

  • M.I.A comes to South Africa in June

    M.I.A comes to South Africa in June

    Black Major Selects is partnering with the 20th Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival to bring M.I.A to South Africa for the first time this June.

    M.I.A fans will be happy to know that the visit includes the screenings of the critically acclaimed documentary MATANGI/MAYA/M.I.A. Following its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival in January, South African audiences will be able to be the first on the continent to engage with the documentary that offers colourful insight into the origins of M.I.A., from her journey as an immigrant teenager in London to becoming a global star. Directed by her former art school friend Steve Loveridge, it includes personal clips shot by M.I.A and her closest friends over the last 22 years. Fans will appreciate this raw, intimate invite into M.I.A’s world.

    In addition to the screenings, M.I.A will have two live shows in Cape Town and Johannesburg on the 7th and 8th of June respectively. She will be teaming up with some of South Africa’s own musical and performance gems. This specially curated selection of South African dancers, artists and DJs radiate the same feeling of fearlessness and presence that Maya Arulpragasm has presented throughout her life. The Cape Town collaborators include Angel-Ho, K-$, and Jakinda. The Johannesburg artists are DJ Doowap, Phatstoki and Dear Ribane. This selection of artists represents various genres and perspectives on performance.

    Tickets and more information for M.I.A.’s live shows are available on the Black Major Selects site.

    Cape Town

    Date: Thursday 7th June 2018

    Venue: Old Biscuit Mill, 375 Albert Road, Woodstock

    Johannesburg

    Date: Friday 8th June 2018

    Venue: Newtown Music Factory, 10 Henry Nxumalo Street, Newtown

  • Music and Technology at Fak’ugesi Festival

    Now in its 4th year, the Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival is a celebration of technology, creativity, collaboration and innovation from across the African continent. The festival includes a range of seminars, talks, exhibitions, workshops, hack-a- thons, films, artists, games, innovation riots and music. With highlights including the Fak’ugesi Conference, Making Weekend as well as Fak’ugesi Beat, a new curatorial partnership with WeHeartBeat that focuses on beats, music and technology.

    The Fak’ugesi Beats program is multifaceted and includes the week-long Fak’ugesi Beats Lab workshop, the curation of panels at the Fak’ugesi Conference and the Fak’ugesi Beats Bloc Party which sees the festival outcomes come to life. Red Bull Studios Johannesburg at the Tshimologong Precinct will play host to the workshop which includes Soulection’s Hannah Faith, videographer Foxy Neela, French Soulection beatmaker Evil Needle, Swiss beatmaker Melodinsfonie, alongside the local Mante Ribane and the Dear Ribane collective working on a collaborative piece the result of which will be showcased at the Block Party and also see the work pressed to vinyl.

    Two of the panels at the Fak’ugesi Conference will be examining the influence of technology on music. ‘Future Beats’ features Joe Kay, founder of Soulection and pioneer of the Future Beats sound, Evil Needle and trap jazz pioneer Masego. The conversation will look at how the digital age as influenced new genres in music and what this means for musicians and artists as a whole. The second panel discussion ‘Sonic Visions’ will be an examination examination of collaboration between film, design and music. With a panel that features singer Nonku Phiri & Rendani Nemakhavhani who collaborated together on a music film, Foxy Neela, Hannah Faith, Mahaneela Choudhury-Reid of WeAreInBloom, and Benoit Hicke of the French F.A.M.E Festival the aim is to have a playful conversation that engages with the audience.

    The Free Workshop Program at the Making Weekend allows the public to gain hands on experience in areas from programming and creating gaming controllers, to robotics and music & film. Led by French/American artist Yann Seznec, the workshop ‘Room to Play’ explores the world of DIY musical controllers and instruments. Making use of everyday objects the workshop will challenge attendees to reimagine what a an instrument is and placing limitations on its function thus challenging the design strategy of commercial controllers. “How do you make a digital instrument that’s more difficult to play? And then thus what kind of questions does that open up?” asks Yann Seznec.

    According to Seznec DIY musical controllers and instruments have had a large impact on the performance of electronic music. “It means that you can do electronic music performances that are more meaningful to an audience. One of the big changes in electronic music in the last 10/15 years was that everything could be done on a laptop. With the downside of it being pretty uninteresting. I think what’s nice about DIY instruments is that it brings new methods of performance to the world,” notes Seznec.

    The Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival will culminate with the Fak’ugesi Beats Bloc Party which will feature the outcomes of the festival’s various collaborations as well as a selection of some of the finest local and international artists including Masego, Joe Kay, MNDSGN, Melodiesinfonie, Evil Needle, Hannah Faith, Nonku Phiri, Christian Tiger School and Petite Noir. “We’re trying to setup an international beat festival and present artists that we feel are making headway internationally and deserve platforms and deserve to be heard. So we feel like we’ve put together a really beautiful lineup,” says Dominique Soma of WeHeartBeat. “We’ve worked with artists that apply the traditional analog way of music making in terms of playing traditional instruments but then creating it in a digital space or through a digital process,” she adds.

    Unique on the continent in its offering, the Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival highlights the importance of the cross-over between culture, creativity and technology in Africa. With the addition of Fak’ugesi Beats the festival is examining the relationship between music and technology and this program will expand over the coming years. “We’re still looking to explore the relationship between the two spaces in the long term. Over the next few years you will see that crossover coming to life a little bit more,” notes Dominique Soma.

  • Dokter and Misses // Awaking from the Weird Dream

    A parallel dimension, encased in conical form. Visually descending into perfect symmetry. Eruption. Entropy. Intersecting lines define shape. Extending into movement. A disturbed moment. Clothed in geometry. An ephemeral construction. Projected lights radiate across the surface, permeating the performance. An infused collaboration. A Weird Dream.

    Drawing on the latest Kassena Collection, The Horseman stands upright. A ridged pinnacle articulated in triangulated forms. Etching across the surface. Similar visual motifs appear in the Dokter and Misses Design Indaba dreamscape. The multimedia performance drew on the creative alliance between the design team, conceptual performers Dear Ribane, Lindiwe Matshikiza, Chloe Coetsee and Dolph and João Renato Orecchia Zúñiga.

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    Inspired by a rich visual tradition in Burkina Faso, the design duo draw it into the contemporary moment. In part influenced by African Consciousness, they have focused on the, “relatively untapped design history of the vibrant continent rather than that of well-­worn Europe. African design as a rule doesn’t normally come from frivolity; it comes from the necessity of using what you can and what’s available to fulfill a function. But on the other hand, it is quite decorative, which gives way to a sensibility that although the object ‘must work’ we may as well make it beautiful.”

    After celebrating a decade in the industry, A Weird Dream was born. Initially the premise of workshopping ideas was based on the conceptual constraint of, ‘could this happen in a dream?’. Katy described how, “We make things that viewers experience in one go. It is not a movie that unfolds a gentle narrative. The result is that of a crude capture of the aesthetic and ideology (which are very often linked) in a moment – most of the time unconsciously.” João Renato Orecchia Zúñiga recounted that while working on the collaborative project, “A highlight for me was working with wide open minded people who didn’t see the lines that traditionally separate disciplines from practice, or process from outcome.”

    Design Indaba 2017-384

    Design Indaba 2017-379

  • Ghost Diamond – the Liminal Loop of Johannesburg

    Digital snow dissipates into industrial plumes of smoke foregrounded by a hazy sun-kissed grassland. Mounds of barren gold-dust emerge from the surface, translating into geometric layers of brick and mortar. A gritty aesthetic echoes the abrasive undertone of the urban landscape. Johannesburg. Articulated in a multiplicity of entangled narratives, the journey begins.

    Crystalline purple shimmers punctuate the features of a deep reverberating voice. The story of Ghost Kat (Manthe Ribane) is constructed through the spoken words of the narrator Bhubesi (Khaya Sibiya). Vernacular phrases are scattered in the otherwise English dialogue, locating the work in both a local and global context. The emotionally charged narrative, traces the pulsing undercurrents of city life through Ghost Kat’s semi-fictioned experience.

    The film intersects and draws parallels between Japanese and Zulu mythology, especially in relation to anthropomorphic identity. Initially inspired by Hagakure – a warrior code of the samurai –  which describes the cultural responsibilities associated with being entrusted with messages. London based musician, Okzharp equates it being, “custodians of other people’s dreams”. This notion materializes within the filmscape.

    Manthe’s inter-disciplinary and multi-faceted performance is seamlessly articulated. The journey of Ghost Kat, embedded in a surreal landscape resonated closely with her own experience. “Johannesburg is the mother of my dreams”. Through the collaborative process she began unearthing “more of the future, but the future is now”. In some ways this sentiment underpins the perception of Johannesburg as a liminal space in the midst of the “shivers of time”. A city which “reflects and relates on a constant loop”, but is rooted in the present moment.

    The fourth chapter of the episodic film is set to be released on the 1st of September as a music video for Sizzr – a collaborative piece by Okzharp ft Manthe. She describes her experience of the dance as “trancing into the music” while mesmeric movement takes hold. Ghost Kat appears clad in hypnotic silhouettes; black ridged garments emphasize every motion against a red-brick wall. This amplification of physicality is heightened by Okzharp’s musical mastery.

    His atmospheric soundtrack and the immersive experience of navigating the city, were the foundations of the visual album. The project spanned two and a half years, in which time the collaborative masterpiece was woven together. Director, Chris Saunders, recounted how the film was made almost, “entirely over the internet” as many of the contributor are peppered around the globe. In spite of this geographic difference, an incredible cohesion and nuance exists between the auditory and visual experience.