South African musicians are enjoying more hard-earned international exposure than ever. After getting an email from Drake’s camp, DJ Black Coffee was featured on the superstar’s More Life project. A Twitter DM, brought Petite Noir’s magisterial voice to Danny Brown’s Atrocity Exhibition. But the actual grind of getting passports, tickets and winning fans through touring is made harder by fluctuating exchanges rates and sheer physical distance.
For the last seven years, the OneBeat fellowship has been offering some redress by bringing talented young musicians, from around the world, to the U.S for residency and performance. Organised by the U.S State Department in collaboration with the Found Sound Nation Collective, it offers emerging professional musicians a period to produce original music and to plan projects in their home countries. This is followed by a national tour, with public performances from small jazz clubs to huge street festivals.
Jeremy Thal, one of the founders, explained the vision behind it as one of communication: ” one of our earliest slogans was ‘ musical collaboration across the world and across the block’. Often the most difficult cultural barriers are not dividing people in Chicago from folks in the Congo, but dividing folks in Chicago and the Congo from their neighbors. Collaborative music-making, when approached with the right spirit, can serve to bridge these divides”. For him, “music is a very visceral and quick way to communicate. And the key elements to bridging these cultural gaps is participation and co-creation”. And so, the fellowship encourages participants to continue engagement in their home countries, with one of the alumni bands performing at next month’s Cape Town Jazz Festival.
The fellowship is open to musicians, aged 19-35, in any genre. Previous years have promoted a rich variety of homegrown talent. An early recipient was Mpumelelo Mcata, the fiercely innovative guitarist of BLK JKS, followed by violinist Kyla-Rose Smith, bassist Benjamin Jephta and folk singer Bongeziwe Mabandla. Most recently, it hosted unique voices Nonku Phiri and Mandla Mlageni.
The applications for this year are open until the 9th of February, 5 PM (Eastern Standard Time, USA). Successful candidates will start with a three week residency at the Atlantic Centre for the Arts, followed by a tour of New York, Baltimore, Charleston SC and Washington DC. More information and applications can be found at 1beat.org.
Get out your diaries. Here is our list of not to miss film, music and art events for 2018:
Inxeba (The Wound) is on circuit in South Africa
When: From 2 February
Where: Throughout the country
Inxeba (The Wound), South Africa’s official entry to the 2018 Academy Awards for best foreign language film, will be released in South Africa from the 2nd of February. It will be screened at a number of independent movie theatres as well as mainstream movie houses. The film focuses on bringing questions and realities around homosexuality and tradition together. It stars SA musician Nakhane Touré who has received much praise for his performance as initiate Xolani. The movie’s engagement with gender, sexuality and tradition makes it a worthwhile watch.
Gaika performs in South Africa
When: Johannesburg – 8 February
Cape Town – 9 February
All the way from Brixton in the UK, the dystopian style of Gaika will be greeting South Africans for the first time in February. His childhood was surrounded by various forms of tech and scientific innovation. His current mode of production is inspired by the digitization of humanity. You can look forward to a live performance of some of his recently released tracks, including ‘BATTALION’.
For their Valentine’s Day Edition WAM will be hosting Drop in Drawing, and just as the title of the event suggests, all that is required from participants is to come by the gallery during the allocated time slot. No experience or booking is required.
If a cheesy Valentine’s Day events such as a film screening or dinner is not quite your thing, we’d recommend giving this one a chance. Let your hand lead your chosen implement of mark making and experiment in a gallery environment. Honestly, what could inspire creativity more?
‘Cape to Tehran: Re-imaging and re-imagining personal history in post-Apartheid South Africa and post-revolutionary Iran’
When: 13 February – 29 March
Where: Gallery MOMO Cape Town
Opening Tuesday, 13 February at 18:00
For this group show a diverse set of artists have been selected largely from South Africa and Iran by the curatorial hand of Sepideh Mehraban. The featured artists engage with complexities surrounding their individual country’s histories and legacies of trauma. Emphasis is placed on personal experiences of both conflict and change through their work resulting in the presentation of a multifaceted discussion. This discussion takes on areas of cohesion and divergence between post-apartheid and post-revolutionary Iran.
‘Cape to Tehran’ does not take the form of a sole narrative but instead acts as full-bodied conversation amongst artists from varying geographies and generations. This show serves to juxtapose personal encounters of socio-political turmoil experienced by the artists in their motherlands. They create art as a way of reflecting instead of simply representing their experiences of change and conflict.
As part of the Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts, Petite Noir and Slow Jack will be performing on the 21st of March. For those who are feeling a little out of the loop, Petite Noir is a Belgian-born Congolese musician and songwriter now based in South Africa. His EP The King of Anxiety and his album La vie est belle / Life Is Beautiful demonstrate why watching him perform live should be on everyone’s bucket list. Slow Jack was formed in 2015, and has grown to include some of Cape Town’s best musical talent. Be sure to have a listen to their Soundcloudas a warm up for the concert. Access tickets for the concert online. The availability of tickets at the venue is dependent on online ticket sales.
‘Bakhambile, Parktown’, 2016 by Zanele Muholi
Stevenson group show BOTH, AND: commemorating 15 years of the gallery’s existence
When: 7 July – 24 August
Where: Johannesburg and Cape Town
The Stevenson gallery turns 15 this year. A commemorative group exhibition titled BOTH, AND will take place from 7 July to 24 August. This exhibition reflects on the foundations that continue to allow the gallery to stand tall in South Africa’s art scene – being a space that has its finger on the pulse of the art market while remaining dedicated to art history and the development of ideas. Two new directors, Sisipho Ngodwana and Alexander Richards, aim to unpack this through their curation of the show. They will look back and look forward, outlining the history of the gallery, its unique publication programme, local presence and global perspective. The show will include artists who began the journey with Stevenson, namely Zanele Muholi, Deborah Poynton, Nicholas Hlobo, Pieter Hugo, Wim Botha, Guy Tillim and Nandipha Mntambo, and those who joined the gallery’s journey at a later stage, like Robin Rhode, Meschac Gaba, Barthélémy Toguo, Penny Siopis and Moshekwa Langa. New and existing work by these artists will tackle the questions, “How have we, over the past fifteen years, collectively navigated the paradox inherent in the commercial gallery model? And what might the future hold?”
Red Bull Music Festival
When: 3-8 April
Where: Johannesburg
Just when the weather will be getting a little cooler, Red Bull plans to bring the heat to Johannesburg with the Red Bull Music Festival. Trompies, Oskido, Moonchild Sannelly, Moozlie, Stiff Pap and Distruction Boyz are among the musical stars who will be performing at this exciting explosion of sound. The festival has something for everyone, with artists from genres such as jazz, hip hop, electro, gqom and kwaito. Different spots throughout Johannesburg’s inner city will come to life at varying points throughout the festival. These spots include The Orbit, Newtown Music Factory, Republic of 94, Great Dane, and Kitcheners. Be sure to get your tickets online.
2017 Fak’ugesi theme
Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival
When: September
Where: Tshimologong Prescinct, Johannesburg
This year will mark Fak’ugesi’s fifth consecutive run in Johannesburg. The festival is due to take place in September, hosted at the Tshimologong Prescinct in Braamfontein in partnership with British Council ConnectZA. It offers an interactive space to celebrate digital technology, art and culture in Africa. Events and projects that should not be missed at the festival include the Digital Africa Art Exhibition, Market Hack, ColabNowNow, A MAZE and Block party. Dates are subject to change.
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 artistYann 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.
Gabrielle Kannemeyer is a Cape Town based art director and stylist who dabbles in every component of the projects she works on. Establishing herself as an unforgettable and irreplaceable brand in the creative industry she has collaborated with Rharha Nembhard, Petite Noir, Lukhanyo Mdingi, Orange Culture, Rich Mnisi, Nicholas Coutts, Wilton Dawson, 2Bop, Bevan Davis and Travys Owen in the past. Coming from a Fine Arts background, Kannemeyer’s work can be distinguished easily by means of her styling that comes to the foreground in images. In her work she celebrates and documents South African landscapes and people in a way that can only be deemed the Kannemeyer way. In my interview with the influential creative she tells me more about her background, method and shares some tips for young creatives
Kannemeyer studied Fine Arts at Michaelis in Cape Town and was introduced to various forms of expression such as painting, print making, sculpture, photography, film making, digital art, animation, typography and drawing. She specialized in photography during her studies but enjoys utilizing a variety of creative expressions to get her concepts across.
She states that working as a creative director in various mediums, she finds herself taking photographs, producing, styling, casting and art directing. The projects that she works on are at times realized with the input of many other creative minds by combining resources and strengths to create work. Kannemeyer feels that it is important to experiment with various forms of expression and avoids sticking to one medium simply because she is good at it or because it comes naturally to her. She continuously challenges herself and builds on her skill set all with the aim to become better at what she does.
“I enjoy how what I do allows me to see a world that is visibly in a state of constant flux. There is no facade of monotony. When things grow stagnant, they shift / I shift as an immediate reaction. I enjoy working with my hands. I enjoy working with people. I enjoy the challenges. I enjoy seeing ideas from my mind’s eye manifest into work. I enjoy helping young creators find their thing, that thing they fucking love doing… that feeling is a revelation for all parties involved. There’s this light that shoots through them and then it’s over…the universe makes moves for them. There are so many things I enjoy about what I do right now.”
Kannemeyer tells me that her creations are informed by what she sees in her surroundings. Perhaps it is a conversation that pulls her mind into a visual plane or perhaps a landscape that stimulates her visual senses as she drives by. She finds enjoyment in driving around the countryside for hours on end, people and landscape watching. Sauntering through Fabric City sometimes ignites her inspiration. Kannemeyer states that her ideas come from anywhere and everywhere.
In her first year at university Kannemeyer came across a book that excited her by artist Billie Zangewa, an artist who mainly works in embroidery and textiles. At the time, Kannemeyer felt lured by the thought of using textiles in her work, a material she was already familiar with as she altered and sold clothing to support her studies and exhibitions. Kannemeyer chose to make use of it in a more welcoming and forgiving environment. “Fabric has the most wonderful ability to disrupt and transport one somewhere else entirely due to how symbolic it is.”
Reflecting on her process, Gabrielle explains that from the instant a personal project, campaign or lookbook is conceptualized, she centres her thinking around how the cast/collaborators, landscapes and styling could be used to amplify the narrative behind the project. She expresses that for her it means bringing styling to the foreground. She achieves these results by simplifying the landscapes that appear behind her subjects.
Kannemeyer is currently running a co-creation studio with Imraan Christian (co-creative director), Raees Saiet (space manager), John Second (studio manager) and Keenan Oliver (assistant producer). The team of creatives developed a collaborative mentorship program operating from 103 Bree Street, Cape Town. Kannemeyer continues to explain that young creators from a variety of backgrounds are invited to enter the space and work closely with them in order to develop their skills and learn how to tell their stories. The co-creation studio has worked with young aspiring creatives including filmmakers, stylists, creative directors and photographers. The mentorships ask of the participants to build their own teams, mood boards and shot lists. Guidance is provided to them through every step of the process. The participants’ work is published onto Area3.co.za on to the CPT ‘17 tab. The images or content is then theirs to keep and the co-creation studio’s to share.
“Our idea for the co-creation studio was prompted by many things: the inaccessibility of Cape Town’s creative industry and the skills and tools needed to pursue creative careers within the industry, the need for fair representation within communities, the demand for a collaborative creative community within the city and the need for catalyzed inclusive growth of a new creative industry. We want to level the playing field as best we can.”
Kannemeyer has stirred change in the industry as a creative director and stylist and hopes to inspire young creatives with her work. Her message for young creatives is the following: “If you have questions, ask them. Everyone’s just a DM away. For real, Carpe DM.”
If you’re tired of going to music festivals with 37 different versions of Shortstraw, or if you’re tired of 40 straight hours of trance being called a music festival, you should check out Zakifo, an actual music festival. Now in it’s third year, Zakifo has found it’s feet and it’s voice as a uniquely curated international buffet of music, held in Durban of all places. If you’re not a Durbanite, you probably haven’t been before, but with Damian “Jr Gong” Marley as this year’s headliner, chances are that might change. While the first 2 editions of the festival provided a broad sonic pallet from around the world, they lacked the support they deserved because they lacked that universally known draw card that helps build critical mass. There aren’t many artists as universally known, and loved, as Bob Marley’s youngest son. It’s a monster booking that has generated hype for the young and ambitious festival, but is not all they have on offer. For those of you making your way to Durban from the 26th to the 28th of May, you’re in for a real treat.
Let me be clear, Zakifo has been a vibe from the start. The first year was a weekend long street party outside the Rivertown Beerhall. It was ambitious in its scope, with 2 stages and a lineup that probably would have drawn better in other cities, but still managed to get most of Durban’s creative community dancing in the streets. We’re talking Mi Casa, Make-Overs, The Soil, Felix Laband, Madala Kunene, Christian Tiger School, Durban acts like The Wolfpack, Veranda Panda and Raheem Kemet (All as they were making names for themselves on radio), and an international lineup that featured artists from France, Reunion Island, Mozambique and my favourite act of the weekend, the enchanting Flaviah Coelho from Brazil. Sounds like a good time, right? It was, you should have been there.
Last year, they scaled up yet again, with 3 stages at the old Natal Command. A music festival on land that used to be a military base feels like a small symbolic victory for the arts. They bumped up the international acts and audiences got more than they bargained for from the likes of Ghanaian-American Blitz The Ambassador, Too Many Zooz from New York, Mali’s Songhoy Blues, Estere from New Zealand, and the SA contingent of Moonchild, Maramza, aKing, Tidal Waves BCUC,Gigi Lamayne… it goes on for a while. The booking for Zakifo has been on point and unlike any other festival in South Africa. You may not recognise all of them, but you don’t see too many of the names on Zakifo’s lineup on other SA festival bills, and therein lies its value. You’re not going to see anything else like it.
Zakifo is an ambitious festival and this looks to be be the year that ambition pays off. While Damien Marley is a superstar booking that has given the festival more visibility, the rest of the lineup is on the level with some of the coolest festivals in the world. Birdy Nam Nam are the 2002 DMC World Team Champs and all around French electro legends, but you probably recognise their name from working with A$AP Rocky and Skrillex on Wild For The Night. Tiggs Da Author’s ‘Run’ will be familiar to FIFA fans, but most notably, the video, which is now on over 2 million views, was shot in South Africa using the talents of local drifters. London’s Nova Twins are bad bitches who play “urban-punk”- bass-laden post-punk that sounds like Guano Apes after listening to Death Grips. The South African contingent this year is also phenomenal, there are the legends in the form of Ray Phiri and Thandiswa Mazwai, the inspiring Bongeziwe Mabandla (who we’ve interviewed before), the phenomenal Petite Noir, and a cappella group The Soil, who hold the honour of being the first act to perform at Zakifo twice.
While the South African music festival has mostly become known for giving international indie and alt-rock acts a pay day once they’ve lost relevancy, festivals like Zakifo (and AfroPunk) are booking acts that are current as fuck and that appeal to more than just the privileged white kid demographic. Things have felt a bit stale on the SA festival circuit for a while now- repetitive lineups of 70% white boys backed by an international headliner just doesn’t really cut it anymore. I don’t doubt that Oppikoppi and Rocking The Daisies teaming up this year is because of “The Rand”, but you have to look at their lineups over the last few years and ask: How does this appeal to most South Africans? I can’t imagine things getting any easier for festivals like Oppi and RTD with more and more viable competition popping up. Competition that offers something unique, whilst they’re sharing headliners. With AfroPunk coming out of the gates swinging, and Zakifo building on its solid foundation, South Africans have more choices where to spend their annual festival budget and more opportunities to experience something different, something that actually feels South African.
The media coverage of last weekend’s South African Music Awards has been dominated by Riky Rick and AKA’s petulant responses to not winning any awards. Basically, they feel that they were snubbed. Shame. Unfortunately this has overshadowed how another of the night’s winners- Petite Noir’sLa Vie Est Belle/Life is Beautiful (which won in the best alternative category) is one of the most innovative and sophisticated albums to have come out of South Africa in years. Released through UK label Domino , Petite Noir (aka Yannick Ilunga) has been touring the world and winning critical acclaim for his pioneering ‘Noirwave’ style.
On Life is Beautiful the ghosts of 80’s new wave artists like Depeche Mode and The Cure are mixed with contemporary SA electronic production and Afrobeat drums to produce elegant songs of romantic regret and personal disillusionment. ‘Freedom’ stabs like ice shards to the heart, while ‘Just Breathe’ is warm and elegiac. The wildly infectious ‘Down’ sounds like a lost collaboration between Fela Kuti and The Talking Heads.
Petite Noir’s closet contemporaries are bands like TV on The Radio and Wild Beasts, who trawl the sounds of Europe, America and Africa’s recent past to make cosmopolitan rock for the present. But the ‘Noirwave’ tag goes beyond just a sound- Ilunga sees it as complete aesthetic. Defying backward or rustic sterotypes, Petite Noir creates a kind of retro Afrofuturism. This is showcased on the music video for ‘Best’, in which mythological imagery runs riot. As the notes for the video describe it ‘ Best’ ‘’ looks at how only through visiting the continent can anyone gain a sense of one of its most fascinating features, that of its split identity; how incredibly and indescribably beautiful it is on the one hand, yet on the other hand, how raw and unforgiving it can be.’’ And aided by the imagery created by his collaborator and partner Rharha Nembhard, Petite Noir is taking Noirwave to the world- a style with no boundaries, at home everywhere.
The Drone Goddess is on a mission to live her truth, using her gifts to obliterate boundaries and silence stereotypes. The curator of NoirWave, one RhaRha Nembhard, is home in South Africa on a break from her Masters degree in museums, galleries and contemporary culture. But to her a break includes so much work and travel that it reveals her drive and passion to be a working artist and contribute to the world with a progressive and powerful message. I had the opportunity to talk to her about everything from her inspirations to her upcoming projects but the crux of it is clear; her work engenders transformation and changes perceptions within institutions, art and culture to represent Africa and Africans as we are and have been. She formed NoirWave with her partner Yannick Illunga a.k.a Petite Noir and their message is finally being embraced in SA, with a SAMA nod for Yannick and both of them featured on the cover of Sunday Times Lifestyle, NoirWave is finally growing roots on homeground.
NoirWave is telling the story of black glory through art. The hermetic principles and traditional themes referenced in the imagery of the movement are balanced by the perspective that the world is comprised of billions of people and we influence one another through travel and now the internet. ‘We are all hybrids of some shape or form’, Rharha says in reference to her broad perspective on identity and culture. Rharha was born in Jamaica, raised in SA and did her undergraduate degree in Bangkok. Having lived in Africa, Asia and Europe, she has come into contact with the world’s major civillisations and is able to draw touches of them into what she does. Pulling seemingly disparate pieces together to tell a new story about the millenial age and represent blackness within the context of futurism, high art and global connectivity.
Traditional broadcast and mass media misrepresent the black experience. But the 21st century has brought us black superheroes, a black American President and rap in African accents. The Winds of Change are blowing and the anachronisms around Africa are being swept away. Rharha travels the continent extensively and her work references all the beauty and richness she comes into contact with. Yet, the messages proliferated about living here are often pervaded by negative sentiment, and while much of Africa’s reality is informed by conflict and the effects of imperialism this is also a vibrant, abundant place and our role within the global space is not that which is defined by the West but rather as the founders of civillisation and forebearers of modern science, astronomy, literature and religion.Colonialism obliterated African history and impressed falsehoods upon Africa of barbarism and ignorance. As movements like NoirWave gain traction, new stories about Africans by Africans gain prominence; we are travellers and artists and activists and curators and writers and scientists, our brilliance is beginning to be liberated from the imperial gaze as we come to understand all that our continent and people contribute to the world. Africa’s resources have been used to build so many major cities; London and Paris were nothing before brutally snatching Africa’s wealth and America would be a wasteland without the stolen labour of slavery. These are facts, and we are here to rewrite the story about this continent and its children.
The substance of NoirWave; the looks, the visual story is the vision of Rharha; her construction of imagery translates cultural knowledge into a modern landscape. Her collaboration with Lina Viktor and Petite Noir produced the striking imagery for La Vie est Belle and her art direction is behind the stunning videos for the album as well. Their shared objective of representing and bringing reverence and regalia to African experiences has produced stunning, emotionally stirring art. The imagery the produced for La Vie Est Belle projects the power and poetry in blackness and the abundant beauty of Africa.
Rharha, the mother of all that is NoirWave, curates the movement with a cohesive and consistent message; Black is beautiful, deal with it.
