Aus’Honey is a badass black girl that does not only live on the internet. Honey is a real girl and she has rolled out the welcome mat into her & her lover’s boujee home, which is decorated with deep red velvet couches that surround her black and white carpet. An inherited antique cabinet which is filled with her colourful clothing, Zulu slippers and jewels is placed in one corner and two pink ceramic swans, another inheritance from her grandmother, are delicately placed on either side of a BaSotho hat on a black and white server placed in the opposite corner. A record player stands tall steps away from a bottle of vodka, and of course portraits from the chapters of the Honey series that feature Honey’s ride or die, Bra Gavini hang on the walls.
Honey is a manifestation of different parts of Rendani Nemakhavani, a communication designer and art director, who collaborated with photographer Kgomotso Neto Tleane to share Honey’s life through a cinematic photography series.
Initially, Rendani wanted The Honey to be representation of different women through one person but as the series unfolded, Honey became an extension of Rendani so using her to portray more than one woman became difficult. Rendani started exploring different parts of herself: her softness, her hair and her electrifying love affair with Bra Gavini, who is portrayed by Kgomotso. The sweet escape that Honey provides has allowed Rendani to share her deepest fantasies, like having a thuggish boyfriend who rides shotgun in her gusheshe. However, her fantasies go beyond fast cars and bad boys. Rendani wanted to be a“model” and through Honey, she has expanded the connotations of the title and created a platform that allows her to be anything else she desires.
As a fan of their work, The Honey reached out to photographers, Andile Buka and Anthony Bila, to interpret their year of storytelling through a collaboration called the Honeyversay. “GO HOME HONEY” was the theme of the work that the collaboration was based on. From this theme, the idea to create a portal into Honey and Gavin’s home was born.
So far every interaction with Honey and Gavini has been through a screen or a print. Rendani wanted to make Honey and Gavini tangible and personal. By stepping into their home, Rendani’s imagination becomes real, Honey becomes real.
Urban Mosadi’s space on 7 Siweright avenue in Maboneng, Johannesburg currently serves as a portal into the happy home and the installation will be accessible through Aus’Honey and Bra Gavini until 1 March 2017.
