Tag: johannesburg

Space Space Gallery: Challenging institutionalized art spaces and curatorial practices

Practicing artists Ella Krivanek and Dorothy Siemens are the founders of the moving gallery Space Space. They met in Toyko in 2014. At the time Ella was thinking about how to create a space that could blend what she had learned and enjoyed as a practicing artists at home in Melbourne with the different scene that she had experienced in Japan. She eventually found an old rundown warehouse which needed a lot of work to set up. Friends and friends of friends who were interested in the same idea helped her to reconstruct the space. This is where she met Space Space partner Dorothy. Aware of the limited spaces that artists had available to create art for art’s sake, as well as what they identified as the hyper-commercialization of the art scene in Toyko, they felt that they could add another layer to the grassroots operation of art spaces in the city. “We had similar ideas about what the Tokyo art scene was like and what we could add to it,” Dorothy explained, “And I think we just work really well together, We have similar aesthetics.”. They started off doing smaller, quite specific shows which culminated into a larger project in The Bathhouse show February 2016. “It was this big, free show that was going to be accessible to young people, bring in dozens of international artists and also have them working with local artists to create those networks,” Ella explained. It included a sculptural and installation art experience which could not necessarily be conveyed on an online medium, which is how most exhibitions are absorbed these days. They started to discuss the idea of the gallery being a moving art space, and the warehouse getting torn down was a big catalyst in making that decision.

In thinking about where to go next to continue the conversations they were having about how networks are created, they both were excited about the political and art scene in Johannesburg. Seeing their gallery as speaking back to institutionalized art space and interrogating how and who views art, by taking the art outside of institutions they are working towards flattening out some the hierarchies that are inherent in institutions. Their exhibition ‘Fluxus Now’ in Johannesburg expands on this. “[The exhibition] tries to make concrete the sense that because now our social circles are so politicized our art institutions need to adapt to reflect that, not only the way artists interact with art, but the way that the public interact with art also,” Ella explained. The soul of their project puts into practice the breaking down of barriers between institutionalized art and the public. However, it is not only about presenting art in more fluid ways, but also calling into question what makes an object an artwork. “We need to understand it [artworks] within a sociopolitical context,” Ella expressed.

This filters into the way that they think about the spaces that they select for their exhibitions and their treatment of these spaces. The Johannesburg exhibition included work by Amber Wright, Aaron Carter, Spencer Lai from Australia; Tshepo Moloi, Roberta Joy Rich and Blazing Empress from South Africa; and OH!BLOOD from Japan. Their work is displayed in various spots around the CBD. Several artworks are displayed at street level in commercial areas, others displayed in parks and street corners with greenery. As you move through the exhibition it becomes more elevated. Even though these works are displayed on the second story of buildings and other higher spaces, they are still connected to the streets by being displayed near windows or over a ledge looking over the city.

Central to the flow of the exhibition was the conversations Ella and Dorothy had with the artists involved. Space Space is trying to approach curating from a more collaborative stance, emphasizing the dialogue with artists as an important part of the final exhibition.

From their experience in Johannesburg they have added a clothing line aspect to their project. “I think on leaving Johannesburg we started to consider gallery space as moving more towards something of like a curatorial project which involves us making our own objects as the gallery as well as continuing to curate shows with others,” Ella explained. Taking objects that they gathered from their time in Johannesburg, including clothing, receipts, shopping lists, they created a clothing collection which they showed at their recent show in Toyko. These are also for sale on their online shop. “For us we have always wondered how we can convey the value that we see in the art that we curate when we put it into spaces that don’t automatically assign those objects value in and of themselves the way that a white cube gallery does,” Ella explained when asked about their clothing collection. By taking objects which would otherwise be considered trash, modifying them and reappropriating them into the gallery space, these items question systems of value. These wearable, semi-practical items make a commentary not only on whether objects have value or not, but also on the hierarchies within those values.

Check out their website to see past exhibitions and to check out their online store. Like them on Facebook to keep up to date with where they will be next.

13 January 2017
Jewellery that makes a wearable declaration of Art: An interview with the creator of Inkaturah designs

What’s most striking about the Inkaturah brand is its modern take on natural materials. I would first come into contact with this brand at Market on Main, which takes place on Sundays in the Maboneng district. My first piece from the brand would be her black choker with a minimalist gold statement jewel in the shape of a small pillar that would well accentuate any long neck line. Her distinct style offers it’s wearer a statement piece that forms a part of the wearer’s style without distracting the eye from their outfit.

I got to interview the originator of this unique brand, Siphathisiwe Hlongwane who explains how “each statement piece gives the wearer an opportunity to express themselves and is designed to be a miniature piece of art” (Inkaturah, 2016).

Motlatsi Khosi (MK): Please could you tell our Bubblegum readers a bit about yourself and how you got into Jewellery design?

Siphathisiwe Hlongwane (SH): I have always been creatively inclined and learnt how to draw from the age of 5. I learnt various techniques and art forms over the years and chose to study architecture. I completed my Masters in 2012 and worked in the profession for two years. I ventured into the fashion industry to follow my passion, working for a global and locally based fashion brand. I began designing and selling jewellery as a second source of income and soon decided to pursue this full time, as I fell in love with the process and collections.

MK: Please explain the inspiration behind your designs and what characterized the Inkaturah brand.

SH: Inkaturah means “In essence”. The brand name is derived from Katurah, my second name which means perfume. The analogy of a person’s scent to their character is often used to characterise one’s person. Inkaturah becomes the character found within their spirit.

My business is a contemporary African jewellery brand which creates unique pieces for the woman who loves art and wants to make a statement. The aesthetic is a combination of layering of geometries with materials. I have merged the conceptual skills I gained in architecture with my fascination with colour and materials.

The designs are inspired by various aspects. Some take on the shape of symbolic pieces, such as the drum Ring which is shaped like a little drum. Others are created by using the “negative pieces” or the off cuts and often result in equally beautiful designs as the original piece.

Some of my other pieces are created to be multifunctional, offering the wearer the opportunity to express two separate aspects of themselves. I design templates from which the stained wood is laser cut. The resulting geometric shapes are layered with glass beads, copper, fabric and brass, through hand assembly.

MK: You mostly use metals and wood in your work. Please explain your choice of using natural materials and how it has impacted your jewellery design.

SH: I began using wood as this is a material that I am most familiar working with. I have chosen to include brass, copper, fabric and beads because it creates a great contrast to the wood, breaks monotony and allows for the exploration of various designs. Making a very small change can be the difference between a piece being greatly loved or unappreciated. By constantly introducing new materials it ensures that there are endless designs which keep clients looking forward to new works.

These materials have impacted my style of jewellery because they are reminiscent of Ancient African jewellery. They create a good balance with the Eurocentric nature of some of the geometries and designs and natural materials.

MK: What are your plans for your brand and what should your followers be looking forward to in future in regards to your style and craft.

SH: There will be an online store coming soon and the pieces will soon be available globally to its growing foreign following. The intention is to reach as many different countries as possible and to be accessible to all those who appreciate the work.

There has also been a huge request for male collections and this will definitely be explored soon. The style will more or less remain the same as it is currently unique in its own way. The main focus will be on improving the quality, whilst introducing the presence of precious metals in the pieces. Once this has been well established it will be great to venture into other accessories such as bags and sandals.

You can follow Inkaturah designs on their Facebook page, or contact Siphathisiwe directly on info@inkaturah.co.za.

9 January 2017
Turn-up Talk Series Episode 2

The ‘Turn-up Talk Series’ is a collection of discussions in which young Jo’burgers share their nocturnal lives: stories and reflections from the city’s dancefloors. The candid conversations explore nightclubs as stages for young people’s negotiations of identity, belonging and power.

This weeks episode is about how we ‘carve out space in nightclubs’.

Produced by Beth Vale

Background music by Ash_fx (@ashfx)

12 December 2016
FAKA – Speaking With the Gods

Faka, the dynamic duo of Desire Marea and Fela Gucci, are proudly representing black and queer creativity with potent sound and vision. Along with their glam imagery and performance pieces, they make music which combines the brute force of Gqom with the optimistic ghost of bubblegum township pop, kwaito and gospel. Their artistic manifesto is best epitomized by the song `Izitibane zaziwe ukhuti zibuya ebukhosini’ (Let it be known, that queerness is a thing of the Gods) which they released with the accompanying statement: ‘ this is an ode to all the powerful dolls who risk their lives every day by being visible in an unsafe world. This is a celebration of those who have fearlessly embraced themselves. Because when your identity is the cause of your suffering in the world, you begin to feel the very source of your greatness in the world’.

This hopeful message underlies the mysterious and alluring debut EP Bottoms Revenge. Adapted from a live piece of the same name, this three track Ep is thirty minutes of outrageously psychedelic `Ancestral Gqom Gospel.’ The opening ‘ Isifundo Sokuqala’ starts with a false sense of calm, until it introduces hypnotic static. The 18 minute title track is ambient odyssey through inner and outer space. Such a terse description undersells how unique their music is, but that’s because it hard to describe something so singular. If I had to pin it down, I’d describe it as sounding like releases from an alternate timeline where Brenda Fassie teamed up with post-punk synthesizer abusers Cabret Voltaire to ritually summon a benevolent matriarchal elder god.

Appropriately, the EP is released on NON records, a collective which has been steadily building an impressive catalogue of provocative music. In such dark times, where a racist maniac has just been elected to the most powerful political position of Earth, this expression of individualism and refusal of labels feels like a welcome act of aesthetic resistance.

11 November 2016
Fear of The Youth Ep4 – high school students weigh in on Fees Must Fall

Fear of The Youth is a new web series about the interests and concerns of Johannesburg youth. The series is produced by filmmaking crew, Germ Heals. In episode 4 Germ Heals speak to high school students about the Fees Must Fall movement, their concerns regarding tertiary education and their thoughts on governments interventions in the space.

13 October 2016
Hlasko: an artist’s cosmology

As much a cinematographer as a producer, Hlasko’s music spins imagery from sound. “I look at it like films: the setting, the situation, the subject, the object, [all] used in the creation of the song”. For me, the setting for Hlasko’s music is a grey beach, abandoned at dusk. In the distance is a lone figure, her clothes pulled towards the sky by the moaning wind. In intermittent, rhythmic gestures, the figure bows towards the ground, gathering shards of sea glass, driftwood and scattered debris left behind by holidaymakers. In her home, I imagine a ceiling of carefully-sculpted hanging charms — their sea offerings chiming in haunting, metallic symphony.

It’s a scene that encapsulates so much of Hlasko’s artistry and process. The producer and vocalist is himself engaged in forms of hording, experiment, and assemblage. He describes his music as a palimpsest of gathered stories, projections, dreams, and thoughts. As with the construction of hanging charms, creating unity from this haberdashery of sound requires a process of threading and weaving. The thread, in this case, is space and time. “It’s like weaving, ja. How you use time and space in the music. Sometimes it can be very minimal but sound very whole. Sometimes it can be very cluttered, but sound very spacey and minimal”. It’s an art of knowing how to place disparate things, how to stitch them, and how to work with the empty spaces. It’s the process of making chaos poetic. “Since I started producing music, I started understanding a lot of other things that I struggled with. It sort of has a mathematical inclination. I feel I have more logic now. Although I’m quite an irrational person, I think music put me in a state where I understand order …”

Hlasko’s musical assemblages can be likened to that ceiling of suspended sea treasures. His sound is a dreamlike chant, ringing with the rusty textures of motley percussion. His arresting vocals whisper through the production, like a singing wind, or a distant birdsong, or an incantation. Often the call is in Sesotho — the language of his mother’s tongue. There’s a reverberation in the music: a consistent echo that makes the listener feel a sense of solitariness and mysticism. As with an assemblage of hanging charms, the imagery is one of lingering and suspension. It’s no wonder Hlasko’s sound is so evocative of pictures, given his Newtown training as a printmaker.

Hlasko (Neo Mahlasela) grew up in Soweto. He began experimenting with music production in 2010, during his final year of school. He remembers this as a time of abundant creative energy. “I guess I was part of that wave”, he says. The music junkies in his neighbourhood were listening to new electronic sounds from across the globe, including Bjork and Aphex Twin, alongside local nineties Kwaito. “Nineties was a time when I was bombarded by a lot of stuff – entertainment, television. I was very conditioned by whatever was being put out. I still have a very heavy garage influence [in my music], and trip-hop [influence]”.

Hlasko released his first digital EP in 2011 — a Soundcloud collection titled Songs of an Ancient Alien Tribe. In 2013, he participated in the Red Bull Music Academy Bass Camp and, the following year, featured on the Design Indaba Music Circuit. Together with Reunion Island Producer, Labelle, he founded the duo, Kaang. In 2015, they released a self-titled EP under the French label, Eumolpe Records.

Just as Hlasko gathers and re-assembles sound, so too does he build his own instruments. Most recently, he has been building a series of African bows. “I’ve been experimenting with making harp-type ones that you strum.” Hlasko is set to continue this work at the Google Cultural Institute in Paris, where he has been awarded a residency to transform African bows into controllers. “So [like a midi controller] you’re launching other sounds but still you’re using the bow as an interface. There are some physiological things that are attached to playing it”. The project speaks to a broader intuition in Hlasko’s work, which has seen him stitching together old and new. While calling forth seemingly ancient chorus and drum, the artist also transports us to futuristic places of sonic surrealism.

His description of his process draws on a language of meditation and catharsis. “It’s very spontaneous, but the only thing that’s quite consistent is that I prefer to be by myself in most cases.” Creating requires Hlasko to find some sense of stillness. It’s difficult “if there’s a lot of chaos or if there’s a lot happening. I have psychic congestion at times because I feed off a lot of people. I’m inspired by…I just have an urge. It’s purgative”. In this process of purging horded experiences, Hlasko also participates in music-making as a mode of transportation. “I think it’s vivid imagination. I think I’m inspired by the fact that I have a very active imagination.”

In a beautiful meeting of producer and listener, Hlasko’s music draws audiences into a very similar psychic terrain as the one from which the sound itself was produced. Both maker and receiver are bewitched, exalted and immersed.

When I asked what setting he imagined listeners to engage with his music, he said: “I like to imagine it’s an intimate thing, in your room, [and] maybe on your computer like I am”.

A sonic sorcerer, he speaks of music as “a calling” and even a process of divination. Sometimes songs are cast as spells, with the aim, he tells me, of attracting particular things into his life. Other musical offerings are sold as spiritual remedy. His song, In The Sea There is Me, is a soundtrack for that grey, abandoned beach, and is captioned by the following script: “cures hypertension, anal retention [and] pressure headaches. May remedy negative symptoms of tireless dancing”. Like a sonic Sangoma, Hlasko throws his collection of spectral sounds, and then works with both noise and silence, to suture disharmony.

7 October 2016
Bloom – Women Growing Together

‘And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom’ – Anaïs Nin

The above quote was the very first post by BLOOM when they launched their Instagram account, on the 1st of September this year; the first month of spring. It encapsulates the vision founders Nandi Dlepu and Farai Simoyi have for their platform. BLOOM seeks to provide spaces for women to meet, converse and inspire each other. “A platform where we can communicate freely about the challenges and triumphs we face in our careers, our relationships, our spirits and with our bodies”. Their bi-monthly conversations take place in Johannesburg, New York and Harare. I caught up with co-founder Nandi to get a feeling for their philosophy of blooming, together.

The seed for BLOOM was planted when Farai and Nandi met through a mutual friend earlier this year. Nandi hosted a pop up event in NY and Farai offered her coffee shop as the meeting spot for the Brunch & Ride. Soon after Nandi’s return to SA Farai hit her up looking to link up with like-minded women on another project of hers. From that conversation they found themselves talking about organizing like-minded women together to chat and collaborate in the same way that they had done, and the seed for BLOOM began to grow. “From conversation to conversation we haven’t stopped imagining and building,” Nandi explains. “BLOOM was in part inspired by all the good conversations we ever had with our girlfriends and/or mentors, and sometimes even with strangers. That feeling you get after such meetings. It’s as if your heart and mind have opened themselves up to more. I would leave such conversations inspired, motivated and challenged. So I sought to package that experience with and through BLOOM. That feeling of being open to more, being and doing is the feeling I want women to leave BLOOM with”. All event themes and uploads on their IG account always relate back to their idea of growing together.

September saw events hosted in all three cities .Their first meet up in Johannesburg also took its cue from their overarching theme for September, conversations around creativity, and so BLOOMERS headed off to Keyes Art Mile in Rosebank for a guided tour by Whatiftheworld in their collaborative space with Southern Guild followed by lunch. Conversation on Creativity, their Johannesburg event for the month, was conceptualized by Nandi and focused on “getting and staying inspired as well as finding and establishing your own authentic & creative voice”. Founder of Art Talks Kholisa Thomas (@kholisa) and poet Lebohang ‘Nova’ Masango (@novatruly) were invited to lead the conversation and speak to the importance of everyday creative habits and the practical side of living a more creative life. The event in NY, themed Free You Mind, Free Your Spine, was conceptualized by Farai and her event was all about blockages; from emotional and mental to physical blockages. They explored the things we do and say that hold us back and the power of freeing your mind. In Harare the Keep Afloat in a Challenging Business Environment event, organized by entrepreneur Langa Lloyd, was about having a space where women could share their challenges, insights and offer support to one another in the context of Zimbabwe’s difficult socio-political environment.

Their Instagram account is a continuation of the conversations that emerge from their events, or as Nandi calls it, the “conversation between the conversation”. Their BLOOM Playlist greatly inspired by their BLOOMERS, can also be found on their IG and is another coordinate in the journey of growth and discovery that the Bloom ladies are trying to map out for and with other women. Suggestions on visual and audio content such as empowering TED talks to watch are shared through the Playlist.

“I cite this often,” says Nandi, “‘The best project you will EVER work on is yourself’. I hope that BLOOM will be a great compliment to the journey of self-discovery and affirmation for all BLOOMERS”.

BLOOM’s Johannesburg coterie will be hosting another conversation in November. To stay up to date with BLOOM news check out their IG account, @bloomorg.

6 October 2016
Turn-up Talk Series

The ‘Turn-up Talk Series’ is a collection of discussions in which young Jo’burgers share their nocturnal lives: stories and reflections from the city’s dancefloors. The candid conversations explore nightclubs as stages for young people’s negotiations of identity, belonging and power.

26 September 2016
Una Rams – True Confessions

Being sad about failed love and emotional disasters is almost de rigueur for any self-respecting contemporary star. It shows your human side by connecting with universal experience. In rap and RnB, (primarily male) pain has been a dominant style since Kayne released the morbid 808’s and Heartbreak in 2008. Almost every major artist who has come up since then has been influenced by some aspects of that work. The Weeknd has the whole focus on predatory relations and the hollow pleasures of fame. Frank Ocean has capitalized on the space for naked self-expression. Drake, of course, owes his entire career to his heartbroken persona, although at this point it’s clearly more a marketing tool than coming from any real personal conflict! Conversely, many female artists like Rihanna and Beyonce have adopted a more confrontational attitude to matters of the heart, and produced some of their most forthright and empowered work.

Pretoria based Una Rams is drawing on this international pop hegemony in an interesting, and highly personal, way. His intimately detailed work borders on certain types of confessional folk music- less trap beats, more sighs and whispers. In fact, his Pink Moon EP even shares a title with the album by doomed UK folk singer Nick Drake.

The song Girls Like You is a good representation of his style. It deals with the common musical scenario of being messed around by your object of affection. But Rams doesn’t fall into the common lyrical snares of either self-pity or sexist insults. In fact, he suggests that they should just stay friends. The song’s production is subtly complex. A downtempo piano loop is uplifted by a burst of dancehall style toasting. The celebratory Nobody takes a more courtly approach in which he promotes his personal qualities to a love interest. With his unvarnished style, he charts a heartfelt, but optimistic course through the travails of modern love.

22 September 2016
Dion Monti- Colour Explosions

Exuberance is the best word to describe the work of multi-media artist Dion Monti. His practice in film, soundscapes, music and installations all share bright colours and warm tones. Operating out of Johannesburg, his various projects have the quality of being deceptively simple. For example, he produced a series of geometric human figures painted onto stark black backgrounds. At first it seems almost perfunctory. But the combination of the shapes and colours create an evocative mix, as if seeing some forgotten childhood cartoon character. In a similar way, his installation work creates spaces of explosive light. Full of torn fabrics and broken frames, they look like crime scenes redesigned as playpens.

A similar aesthetic is seen in his music. His main style is minimal house, which he tweaks and freaks out with all kinds of unexpected elements. Instead of focusing on the beat, his productions constantly shift and swirl, creating non-linear soundscapes to fall into. This year already he has dropped two eps. The first, Contortions, has thee tracks, including a homage to ‘Mrs. Ples’, the famous proto-human fossil discovered outside Johannesburg. The recent release The Wonderer is more conceptual. As the title suggests, it develops the deliberately naïve style that he has cultivated in his visual art. In a supporting text he describes the work as being about the ‘the one who is curious, no child but no adult either, never stops wondering, always inspiring’. Beginning with the opening ‘the kid’ we are lead on a metaphysical journey through the self. It ends on the other side with the gently rousing ‘the adult’, which climaxes with an optimistic flourish. While much contemporary electronic music is focused on darkness and anxiety, Monti is carving out a niche by looking toward the light.

7 September 2016
Who killed Steve Biko?: Siki Msuseni is asking the hard questions through fashion

Clothes are more than just a fashion statement. It is a testament to our ability of self-expression as well as a reflection of our ideas. Siki Msuseni has released a tote bag that is striking but also challenging our understanding of our South African struggle history. The tote features the iconic illustration of a tearful Steve Biko and on its other side the question, “Who killed Steve Biko?”

Motlatsi Khosi (MK): Who is Siki Msuseni and how did she begin her journey with Pigments Studio?

Siki Museni (MS): Siki Msuseni is this ambitious young lady who allows nothing to stand in her way in attaining her dreams. I am this young friendly, talkative and ball of energy person.

I began my journey with Pigments Studio a while back, for those that know me from way back knew that I had a Style blog called “All Things Intriguing”, with that I decided to rebrand my blog and call it Pigments Studio and have a business leg to it as I always wanted to own something of my own, to be an entrepreneur. So Pigments Studio started at the beginning of this year after months of business strategy brainstorming. This is a collaborative platform but also a business. So the name Pigments Studio comes from my love for colour. The ‘Studio’ aspect is the idea that one day I want to have a studio space where you have a whole production space where people are creating items. Pigments Studio is solely based on fashion / clothing industry.

MK: What brought about the creation of the ‘Who killed Biko?’ tote bags? What was the need for such a bag?

SM: Well this is a collaborative work between Crowded Wolf (founded by Xolani Dani) and Pigments Studio (Founded by me).

I have always wanted to put meaningful work out there and always have ideas running in my mind so I decided to put this down on paper and send a brief to Xolani and asked him if he would be interested in a collaborative work of this sort and so we started this series of work.

A lot of things triggered the creation of the “Who killed Biko?” tote bags. A lot was omitted about South African history in our curriculum while I was in school, and it still is. Looking at the remarkable current events I felt that there was a need to open dialogue with the past events while focusing on what is happening now. We are in a state of political instability and this shows in our current events, the bags are a way to say, let’s go back to the drawing board. Who killed all these great leaders? Would South Africa turn out to be this kind of South Africa if they were not killed?

MK: What do you hope to achieve with this project?

SM: This is a series of works that I hope to start a dialogue with. For us to continue talking about South African history and educating each other while trying to find the answers. I have observed that in order for one to speak on any political matter one needs to be well read and articulate on these matters, I am trying to kill that. I want anyone to be able to have an opinion about the history of South Africa any ordinary person on the streets, We value everyone’s opinion. And that is why I have chosen to use fashion as a medium of activism. We’re not all eloquent but we can use different mediums to drive our message. So the person who is carrying one of our “Who killed Biko?” tote bag is essentially starting a conversation in their little corner.

I also hope to find answers of who really orchestrated the death of Steve Biko? Who was behind it all because I am currently getting a whole lot of different answers to this question.

I hope for us to celebrate being black, to stand together united and to share the little that we have and kill the ‘scarcity mentality’. So as one wears this bag, I want them to feel that they are part of something big and when they see the next person carrying the same tote bag, there should be a sense of pride and unity in the individuals.

MK: I see two stories at play in the bags. The first is the image of a Biko, a black man crying. Is this a Biko lamenting his untaught past or the tears of all of us at the loss of such a hero?

It’s a play on the fact that Biko has always been depicted as a strong and bold leader. So here on the bag I show his vulnerability and the pain that he went through when he was arrested in that roadblock and the brutality he experienced in his service of fighting for a better South Africa for black people. It’s also a cry of the unknown answer of who orchestrated his death?

The second is a call to change. An almost accusatory exclamation is being made about the ‘Biko myth’. It is forcing us to re-think the history surrounding his story. Please could you respond to this idea as well.

Indeed I want you to take a closer look at what was fed to us about our country’s history, and now that we have grown up to realize that the education system has fed us hogwash omitting a lot about South African history. This question is a way of saying that we have realized and taken it upon ourselves to dig out the honest answers about the history of South Africa.

Also please take a read of my blog post about the “Who killed Biko?” tote bags here.

You can also follow me on Instagram

5 September 2016
Everything you need to know about Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival 2016

“Ungaphthelwa Innovation Yako” / “Own Your Innovation”

In a collaboration between City of Johannesburg, Tshimologong Precinct and Wits University, this year’s Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival is created for conversations, collaborations and projects for Africans by Africans. It runs from the 19th of August until the 3rd of September. The annual festival is an “African celebration of digital technology, art and culture” in Johannesburg aimed at encouraging people in the city and on the continent more broadly to own their creativity and innovation through thinking about and constructing African visualization of the city, the digital, the playful and the future. With this year’s larger theme being the “AFRO TECH RIOT”, explorations of African knowledge systems, femininity, community and spirituality in relation to technology and the digital are the threads pulled throughout the two-week long festival. Johannesburg’s newly constructed tech hub Tshimologong on 47 Juta Street Braamfontein will be turned into a collaborative space through workshops, talks, installations, exhibitions, performances, pitches, awards, parties and gaming.. The festival asks participants to think about and engage with the idea that relationship between art, technology and creativity are “culturally embedded phenomenon” (Bristow 2014: 168). The revolutionary spirit of the festival is supported by its other partners British Council’s ConnectZA, Goethe Institut, and the Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE).

Major events this year include old time favourites along with new exciting projects and talks:

Fak’ugesi Digital African Residency in which local and international digital artists and creatives are invited to be on residency to explore the festivals theme. This year, with Pro Helvetia Johannesburg, saw an open call for creatives within the SADC region. The festival residents will be exhibiting their work and participating in discussions in the Reverse Digital Hustle (with Livity Africa) on the 24th of August, the Fak’ugesi Residents Exhibition from the 29th to the 30th of August, as well as being part of other smaller workshops at Tshimologong and the Fak’ugesi Soweto Pop Up in Orlando East. This year’s residents are Vuyi Chaza from Zimbabwe, Cebo Simphiwe Xulu and Regina Kgatle from South Africa.

The Agile Africa Conference (22 & 23 August) hosts African software professionals to discuss and brainstorm better ways of working with and creating software, as well as what this means within an African context.

This year also includes a talks program in which digital artists and technological innovators discuss African knowledge systems in technology and the digital space and get a deeper understanding of “cultures of technology” (Bristow 2014: 169). The first being the Reverse Digital Hustle Talk featuring this year’s residents and guest Tabita Rezaire (24 August). We also see Fak’ugesi’s twin festival CairoTronica feature with its Director Haytham Naywar forming part of the second Fak’ugesi Talks (26 August) along with Joshua Noble and The Constitute.

The role of women in technology is being given multiple chances in the limelight this year with events including Maker Library Network & Geekulcha Open Data Quest workshop (24 August) which challenged participants to use online data about Women and Human Settlements to put together a story board that explores and tries to address the social relations involved around these social issues. Other events include the Women in Tech @ Fak’ugesi (29 August) which is a discussion and networking platform focused on the need to support and highlight the achievements of women in the tech industry. The Creative Hustle as part of the new Fak’ugesi Talks program with ConnectZA, puts together industry professionals Karen Palmer and Valentina Floris to talk about pushing boundaries and how technology and creativity combine.

In thinking about technology by African for Africans, #HackTheConstitution (26 August) provides an interactive version of South Africa’s constitution in which lawyers, developers, UX specialists and artists are invited to work on creating a prototype app that can make the Constitution more accessible.

A MAZE Johannesburg will be adding to the playful aspect of the festival with their events, talks and workshops running from 31st of August to the 3rd of September for gaming enthusiasts.

The Market Hack, one of the festivals popular events, with ConnectZA and South African Maker Collective (27 August) is a daylong takeover of The Grove at South Point (Braamfontein) involving activities related to play and learning about 3D printing, virtual reality and sound.

Maker Library Network & Geekulcha (1 September) will be running 3D fashion experience in collaboration with designers from the Tshwane Fashion Project to explore how the 3D experience can add to the fashion industry.

Also new to the program is a “future sounds” workshop (25 – 27 August) with Goethe Johannesburg will bring together the Create Africa Collective and Berlin-based digital artist, The Constitute, to mix technological innovation with the re-imagining of sound. The results of this collaboration will form part of the Alight Bloc Party/Tshimologong Precinct Launch (1 September) and will light up the Precinct with featured projects including Future Sounds, installations provided by UK-based creative studio SDNA and light-based installations from South African artists to officially open up the Precinct.

The A MAZE and Fak’ugesi Soweto Pop Ups (27 and 28 August) will be held at Trackside Creative in Orlando East which will provide a mixture of virtual reality experiences, game design workshops, live digital installations and various projects related to video, performance and other technological forms.

Visitors can also check out The Rotating Exhibition Room which has an ongoing exhibition until the 31st of August featuring video art from artist Magdalena Kallenberge, Ahmed Esher, Carly Whitaker, Mohamed Allam, Foundland and students from The Animation School.

To find out more information about the festival and to look up the other smaller workshops and events they will be running check out their website

References:

Bristow, T. (2013). “We want the Funk”.

Bristow, T. (2014). “From Afrofuturism to Post African Futures”.

24 August 2016