Bubblegum Club

Tag: travel

  • Daily Paper // transcending borders with their latest women’s collection

    Daily Paper // transcending borders with their latest women’s collection

    The Amsterdam-based lifestyle and streetwear brand Daily Paper present their third women’s collection as part of their “Transcend Borders” Spring/Summer 18 campaign. Founded by Jefferson Osei, Hussein Suleiman and Abderrahmane Trabsini, who have their roots in Ghana, Somalia and Morocco, aim for every collection to have an element that pays homage to their cultural homes.

    In an interview with the Head of Design at Daily Paper, Berivan Cemal, she explained that this collection was built on the idea of transcending expectations. The idea came from a conversation she had with Jefferson, Hussein and Abderrahmane about their travels and global connections. Related to this was a larger discussion about why we seek relationships with people across the globe and how it is possible to identify with people from different countries.

    Conceptually, the collection also makes a comment on how bodies are governed through the use of passports and documents that are necessary for the policing of borders. “We challenge a system that aims to keep us within boxes and borders.” The collection tells a story that is influenced by globalization, with the intention of putting an end to ideas like racism and truly embracing multiculturalism. The focus on eroding borders has always been part of the Daily Paper DNA, but it was with the SS18 collection that they engaged in this conversation intensely. “We want the youth to talk to each other. If a conversation arises from someone noticing a print on a t-shirt then so be it. We realize that these kids are the future and they love to express their identity through clothing.”

    Oversized silhouettes, taking the form of trousers, blazers, pullovers and a statement snake-skin set, exhibits a revolving activewear theme with tracksuits and printed shirts all making noteworthy appearances.

    The editorial plays on afrofuturistic aesthetics, where shadows create a cryptic, other-worldly mood, visually tapping into the idea of transcending borders. Reflecting on the shoot, Berivan stated that she loves “when something looks beautiful and glamorous from afar and up close you discover small elements of surprise. We wanted it to seem like it was shot in a studio but reality, it’s a beautiful colored wall outside, taking advantage of Africa’s beautiful lighting. I wanted to create something only possible in South Africa, something only feasible with a team of amazing creative locals.”

    Check out the Daily Paper website to get a hold of this new collection.

    Credits
    Photography: Jamal Nxedlana
    Art Direction: Jamal Nxedlana & Berivan Cemal
    Styling: Berivan Cemal & Jamal Nxedlana
    Hair: Yonela Makoba
    Make Up: Nuzhah Jacobs
    Produced by: Bubblegumclub & Berivan Cemal
    Photography Assistant: Andrew Aichison
    Styling Assistant: Sarah Hugo-Hamman
    Models: Ideline Akimana and Gina Jeanz 

  • Urko Sanchez – grounded in Swahili Architecture

    Urko Sanchez Architects is an award-winning boutique architectural firm based in Kenya and Spain. It’s founder, Urko Sanchez, started his architectural studies nearly thirty years ago and took several years to complete his coursework due to his love for travelling. Urko participated in various architectural projects during his studies, and his life as a traveler has inescapably shaped his designs. Here I look at Urko’s background and the work of his architectural firm.

    Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, Urko has always been embedded in an extreme passion for seeing the world. “From the time I was very young, I have always loved traveling”. Urko has visited more than forty countries, including Canada, Argentina, and India. Being exposed to a large variety of colours, art and cultures have informed his life and practice. All of the sights Urko has seen on his travels have helped him establish what he wanted to build for himself and for others.

    During Urko’s studies, he began to partake in architectural endeavors with NGOs in Nicaragua and Spain. As time passed Urko continued to lend his expertise in conflict zones. Urko spent two years assisting in architectural projecs, the building of camps, clinics and schools within Angola, Bosnia and El Salvador. After going to an island off the coast of East Africa Urko’s thrust for a nomadic existence was quenched, and he decided to set his roots in Lamu after years of travel.

    ‘Swahili Gem Apartments’ Mombasa, Kenya by Urko Sanchez Architects 2012 – 2017

    With his mind set on living in Lamu, he was faced with the challenge of finding work within the area. “I came up with the idea of Lamu House Hotel in 2001, and then got a group of friends together to buy the plot. We started working on the architectural planning and just when we were ready to begin building, September 11th happened. Everything stopped. So I went back to Spain for a year to work for a construction company. We did very special, up market projects like renovating the Real Madrid Stadium, interventions in the Cathedral of Salamanca and private houses.”

    In 2003 when the world grew more stable, Urko headed back home to Lamu and started construction on the hotel. The first phase of this project took three years to complete. At this time, the architect started working on projects for other clients, resulting in the expansion of his specialty in his practice. Urko’s work started revolving around Swahili architecture that he has reshaped with a modernist touch.

    ‘African Union Headquarters Campus’ Nairobi, Kenya by Urko Sanchez Architects 2016

    Urko Sanchez Architects has a passion for social improvement and contributes to projects that are aimed at assisting disadvantaged communities with innovative interventions. With each project that the firm takes on there is a keen focus on environmental stewardship, the cultural heritage of the structure, indigenous materials as well as the flow of the structure’s surroundings.

    What differentiates Urko Sanchez and his studio? A modern kink on traditional architectural practice, as well as their implementation of a green aesthetic that is employed with the use of wind, solar power, and recycled water. The points that differentiate them continue to include the use of natural architecture to emphasize natural light as well as the framing of private gardens and open courtyards. Another important factor is the external specialists, TMA, that form a part of the team and address subjects such as the protection of wildlife, transport engineering, and energy efficiency.

    Urko Sanchez’s architectural exploits were materialized through a rare symbiosis with travel that aided in the creation of a matchless design prowess leaking over into his firm with abundance. Using Swahili architecture as a departure point for his designs brought not only himself but his architecture studio to a stage where beautifully, intricate, modern twists are made on traditional Swahili architecture. With environmental considerations and cultural heritage of structures at the forefront of their design practice, it is no wonder that the boutique architectural firm is award winning and one of the leaders in innovative, spectacular design.

    ‘Lavington Villas’ Nairobi, Kenya by Urko Sanchez Architects 2016
    ‘Umma House’ Lamu Island, Kenya by Urko Sanchez Architects 2006

  • Where Art Thou – letting art be your guide

    In a Bangkok gallery filled with sinister wooden carvings of warped body parts, punctuated with black grains of rice, Terhys Persad found out about the struggles the Thai farmers. No guidebook had included this information and even the tour guides did not briefly mention the tragic commercialisation of rice farming. Instead it was in galleries and the contemporary art that Terhys feasted on that she was able to learn about the stories of the people of each foreign land she visited.

    The knowledge she gained from that Bangkok gallery and many other galleries she visited while fulfilling her dream of travelling the world inspired her to create a web series, Where Art Thou, that answers the questions about a country through art.

    After a year and a half of travelling, Terhys returned to her home in America and registered herself for film classes. Here she learned how to create, direct and produce a show. Next stop, South Africa to shoot the first season of the series.

    However, this was not the typical Western travel show that focuses on the South African wine route or Nelson Mandela. Terhys’ goal was to “introduce outsiders to a part of a country’s culture that doesn’t feed into Western stereotypes.”

    So even in the South African art scene, Terhys focused on artists that “do not get much attention in traditional art spaces”. She specifically sought out “women and gender non-conforming people, people of colour and queer people”. Even all of the crew that Terhys hired were South African people of colour and most of them were women.

    The six episode season features artists that manifest the theme of that episode in their work.

    Episode one is about conflict and coexistence and features internationally known contemporary artist and practicing traditional healer, Buhlebezwe Siwani.

    Episode two’s theme is defiance and the artists in this episode, Rendani Nemakhavhani and Kgomotso Neto Tleane, “rebrand Black hood life with a camera and a soap opera” through cinematic photography series, The Honey.

    Under the theme commitment, episode three features Molotov Cocktails the resistance mechanisms of an artist and her family’s activism that has continued for generations.

    Artists Rory Emmet and Thania Petersen feature in episode four, which explores the “rediscovering identity and royal heritage after hundreds of years of erasure” under the theme pride.

    Episode five’s theme is ownership and discusses the many ways that land has been and continues to be a contentious issue in South Africa.

    Lastly, episode six features “F**k White People” artist, Dean Hutton and the idea of “dismantling white supremacy” under the theme bravery.

    Through the interviews of artists whose work introduces specific parts of South African culture, society or history, Terhys captures authentic South African stories and “dope shit that doesn’t repeat the well worn narratives of the nation”.

    Terhys is currently fundraising and developing season two of Where Art Thou, which will be in Mexico. But for now, the first episode of season one will be released later this month and every month after an episode will be released.

    Stay tuned to the Where Art Thou YouTube channel and check out Where Art Thou’s Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram for behind the scenes videos, travel tip.