In conversation with .. ! Part2

In conversation with Aja, Kate Gottgens, Cinga Samson, Eli Gold, Wax Wings, Gurr, Minimal Violence and more

06.2019 5.00 € I UK £ 6.00 I US $ 8.00

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WOLF

01.06. — 31.07.2019

AUFFÜHRUNGEN I VORTRÄGE I WORKSHOPS I DIGITALE BÜHNE WOLF KINO BERLIN WWW.WOLFBERLIN.ORG/HOWLINGWOLF

MEDIENPARTNER: Berlin in English since 2002

GEFÖRDERT DURCH:

HOWLING

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Meet The Team Editor-in-Chief Fashion Editor

Marcel Schlutt @marcel_schlutt

Art Director Art Editor

Nicolas Simoneau @nicolas_simoneau

mschlutt@kaltblut-magazine.com

nsimoneau@kaltblut-magazine.com

Nico Sutor @nicosutorfashion kaltblut-magazine.com

Fashion Editors

Karl Slater @slaterkarl kslater@kaltblut-magazine.com

Music Editor

Nicola Phillips @nicphilf nphillips@kaltblut-magazine.com

Contributors Maree J. Hamilton, Colette Pomerleau, Manuel Moncayo, Paul Schulz, Suzana Holtgrave, Lewis Robert Cameron, Konstantinos Gkoumpetis, Bénédicte Lelong, Dehan Germishuys, Edda & Lotte, Alison Sinkewicz, Jana Höft, Johan Lygrell, Sarah Müller, Claudia Fischer, Sasha Zacks

Copyediting, proofreading Amy Heaton, Nicola Philipps, Lala Quail, Daniella Mckinley

On The Cover Aja > p.16 Custom jacket - Very Grata @ verygrata Glasses - Gentle Monster Trousers - Richert Beil Shoes - Saint Laurent

Note From the Editors How plain and height With dewdrops are bright!

How pearls have crown'd The plants all around!

How sighs the breeze Thro' thicket and trees!

How loudly in the sun's clear rays The sweet birds carol forth their lays!

But, ah! above, Where saw I my love, Within her room, Small, mantled in gloom, Enclosed around, Where sunlight was drown'd, How little there was earth to me, With all its beauteous majesty! *Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - In Summer 1881

Welcome to our summer issue!

Love Nicolas & Marcel www.kaltblut-magazine.com KALTBLUT Magazine is published by Marcel Schlutt and Nicolas Simoneau KALTBLUT MAGAZINE I Anton-Saefkow-Strasse 2 I 10407 Berlin I Germany

All Copyright at KALTBLUT.

All of KALTBLUT´s contributors are responsible and retain the reproduction rights of their own words and images.

Reproductions of any kind are prohibited without the permission of the magazine, editor and each contributor.

Wax Wings > p.6

Cinga Samson > p.36

Materialistic > p.58 Gurr > p.44

Ceci n'est pas un poĂŠme > p.70 This city is pink > p.24

Eli Gold > p.74 Kate Gottgens > p.50

The Young Royals > p.28

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Wax Wings Owns the Night Interview by Maree J. Hamilton @mareesea Photos by Fiona Garden @fionagarden

Let’s be clear: Wax Wings isn’t interested in some distant burning ball of fire. The artist, producer and DJ (née Joseph Icaro) dedicatedly crafts deep, faceted soundscapes meant to thrill us mortals here on earth. Raised by artist parents and forged in underground clubs across the UK, he’s made a name for himself that stands strong amongst the others in his cohort. Between completing remixes for the likes of Sofi Tukker, Jimmy Edgar and Fischerspooner—not to mention promoting his new EP, Falling—he caught up with us to talk community, creativity and his residency with He.She.They.

You’re deeply connected to the queer community as an artist, your residency with He.She.They. being one example. Do you think it’s important for artists to support and create space for their communities? Was this always important to you?

Very. I think for us to push forward as communities and repel discrimination we need environments to feel safe and empowered from within. Whether you've faced it on an individual level or know from people, friends and families we surround ourselves with, discrimination exists and it sucks. I think that empathy isn't enough to be an ally, so being connected to events like HST and being a team player within the community shows your support.

Tell us more about your new release, Falling.

Falling is on a way less dark or melancholic tip.

I wanted to make something a bit more playful, where I didn't set out with a concept or deeper meaning. I just wanted to make some bass-driven music that spoke for itself. Mobilee Records are releasing Falling and helped nail two amazing remixes from M.E.M.O and Marc Houle to complete the package. (Thanks, guys!)

You cite that your parents are also artists. How did that inform your journey as a creative person, as a musician?

Listen, that was some loud and paint-covered upbringing and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I think being submerged within the arts from day dot decided the path my life was to take. Same for all four of my brothers. We’re all creatively driven.

Mum is an amazing artist who can put her hand to anything and Dad is the showoff musician who loves centre stage. I definitely exist somewhere in between those two personalities.

You’ve mentioned listening to bands like Korn, Nine Inch Nails, and the Deftones when you were younger, and you certainly nod to those influences in your sounds/style now. What other kinds of music did you have around you growing up? Are they also important to your current work, even if not obviously so?

I was brought up on a lot of music from the New Romantic period and British bands like The Cure, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, Siouxsie and The Banshees. I always favoured these artists for nostalgia, but I definitely think on the more album sounds, these influences come through. Stylistically I definitely see subtle nods to the fashions from this time, recently more than ever. More recent influences have ranged from techno gods such as Ellen Allien, Adam Beyer and Chris Liebing—which actually feels mental when I’ve played alongside them.

Your work is fluid, and goes deep: it manages to touch various genres while maintaining a steady, beating heart at it's core. What (or who) has been an unlikely source of inspiration or influence for you?

A good friend of mine, Maya Jane Coles. It’s strange as we’re so close now, but the fanboy inside me is still there. I’m continuously wowed by everything she puts out, and the authentic stamp on everything she touches. She's the only artist I know who has so much control over the entire process, from music to the artworks. She is really a genius with such a strong vision and an admirable sense of self. She’s been such a great person to me, having me play warm-up sets around the world, remixing “Weak” from her last album Take Flight, as well as “It’s Alright” from her debut album Nocturnal Sunshine. Having a person in my life who is both encouraging and inspiring is incomparable. Big love.

Where do you go/what do you do when you need to hit the creative reset button?

(Or, what do you do for creative “self-care”?)

Usually, I’m good at working relentlessly, but sometimes I just have to stop. I have to say enough is enough. Take a step back and let the creativity bubble up until I’m really excited to work again, then go full throttle and smash loads of work out. I attend a sound bath at least once a month and get drenched in healing tones. This really helps any creative or emotional blocks.

“Falling is on a way less dark or melancholic tip. I wanted to make something a bit more playful, where I didn't set out with a concept or deeper meaning.”

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“I am so here for a queer invasion.”

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“I have always admired iconic figures who go through transformative processes with their identity, both sonically and aesthetically.”

What are the places in the world that have contributed most to your evolution as an artist?

Front and centre is and always will be London. Moving from the North of England into this city just let me run free with my imagination. Best thing I ever did. But each place I have been to and played in holds its own special place in my story: Fabric, Watergate in Berlin, Rex Club in Paris, Pacha in Ibiza, Sankeys in Tokyo... Everywhere is different and it’s given me a huge variety of audiences to play for. I’m really grateful for such amazing experiences and challenges.

When you want to discover new music or new work from artists in general, what are your sources?

I just dig all over the place. Like digital music platforms, listening to mixes and hunting down the tracklist in the comments section. I ask my DJ housemates if they've got anything juicy or weird to show me. And my Spotify account has no clear trajectory, so Discover Weekly throws out some real interesting stuff from time to time. That’s if I haven’t bombarded it with sleep rain sounds the week before.

Your aesthetic, especially on social media, seems to be constantly evolving.

(Right now it’s very Gomez Addams goes to Berghain—we love it.) How has your presentation changed over time? Do you find it’s followed a similar path as your creative work?

Compliments taken, thank you. I’m as explorative with my image as I am with my creativity. It all feeds into itself. I have always admired iconic figures who go through transformative processes with their identity, both sonically and aesthetically. Manson, Bowie and Madonna, you get the idea. They keep you interested for decades. I think it's one of the best things to give a musical moment iconography through a specific look.

Tell us about your residency with He.She.They., the collective creating queer-centric parties all over the planet. How did you get involved? What has the experience been like for you as an artist?

I have been working close to Steven and Sophia for many years and remember being told about HST before it’s launch. It sounded amazing, with lineups curated to celebrate diversity but in prolific clubs around the world. I mean, I am so here for a queer invasion. I think my favourite part about the whole thing has been how accepting everyone is of everyone else during the events. It can be quite daunting for a lot of performers to express their authentic selves out of fear that it won’t be accepted outside their bubble. HST is the complete opposite of that. It’s a clubbing utopia.

Why are spaces like HST so important in this particular cultural moment?

HST as a political concept suggests we can all get along no matter our backgrounds. It’s where what makes us diverse is celebrated, but at the same time, what unites us is just as strong a participant. Maybe people will walk out of this party with a different perception of XYZ human beings. If something is alien to you, how are you meant to understand it? I think this is the fundamental flaw of schooling, parenting and society. I think it’s getting better, but step outside of your perceived reality and try to understand someone else’s life.

Do you see a shift toward inclusivity happening across the music/club scenes that you’ve been a part of, overall? Or were you always drawn to spaces for which that was a priority?

Well, all of my clubbing experiences have been housed in either very liberal or queer spaces, both of which haven’t featured a discriminative nature. I wouldn’t go somewhere which wouldn’t be respectful. I think this is why HST works so well, as it's ticking boxes for so many people whilst offering the respect people deserve.

What’s a project you’re working on right now that’s really, really exciting for you?

I’m finally completing my debut album, Umbilical. This has been a project that has evolved and grown into quite the monster. But I am so glad I haven’t had a deadline breathing down my neck—it’s allowing me to really explore the breadth of my musical capability. I am so excited to showcase this, and put together the live show which I was made for, especially after finishing a track with the queen of punks, Louisahhh! It’s gonna be super special.

Photo by Eivind Hansen

@waxwingsofficial

Komm schon

Ayleen Photos by Maximilian Mouson Styling by Nico Sutor Hair and Make Up by Patricia Hoos using Davines and MAC Cosmetics Photo assistants are Jubal Battisti and Tobias Hoops Model is Ayleen at Izaio Models

Bicycle Shorts & Socks - Adriane Lila Fecke 
 Shoes - United Nude

Look -Adriane Lila Fecke 


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Coat & Bra - Florian Máthé Pants - Melis Yildiz Hat - Adriane Lila Fecke

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Look - Adriane Lila Fecke

Hoodie & Dress - Melis Yildiz Belt & Shoes - Essentiel Antwerp Earring, Shirt & Bicycle Shorts - Adriane Lila Fecke Socks - Pantone

Look - Adriane Lila Fecke

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In conversation with Aja Interview by Paul Schulz Photography by Suzana Holtgrave Styling by Konstantinos Gkoumpetis Dog Model is Fran Fine 
Production by Marcel Schlutt and Nico Sutor 
Special thanks to Ulrich Hartmann Studio, Schwuz Berlin

Dress - Danny Reinke

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Aja might be known to most people as one of the faces of RuPauls Drag Race, but has completely come into their own as a nonbinary queer artist in the last two years. Aja is bringing the art of drag into the masc-dominated world of hip-hop.

In May 2018 their debut EP, In My Feelings was released, followed by their breakout album „Box Office“ which was beloved by critics and new and old fans alike, but also sparked debates among Drag Race fans.

Born and raised in the heart of Brooklyn, Aja’s genuine connection with their fans and their personal struggles with race, gender identity, class, and sexuality, has become largely impactful to the LGBTQ+ community around the world. We met one of our favourite performers to talk music, beauty and life lessons.

„When you’re being true to yourself artistically, you will always be stuck in the middle. There will be people who hate what you do, and people who love what you do.

And I’m learning, that that’s just fine.“ Dress - Marina Hoermanseder

What have you learned about yourself during the last year?

Patience, with me and others. While making, promoting and touring with „Box Office“ I learned how different the two industries, TV and music, are, that I’ve been working in, how different fans react to me and certain parts of my work and how to deal with that myself. You sort of have to tread the system like a child. That maybe sounds terrible but what I mean is this: You can’t scream at a child, you can’t hit it, you just have to love it, be patient and realize, that a lot of the time children just need time to learn things at their own pace to be able to understand them. So, not everybody will understand every single thing I do, but that’s fine. I’m trying to find ways to do new things in a familiar format, so people can get kind of „lubed up“ to the idea behind it. I don’t want to shock people, but sometimes that is just bound to happen and I can’t control it.

That sounds like you were surprised by the reaction of some fans to the album, but have made your peace with it.

I was. And I have, yes. But mostly people reacted really, really positive. The album did and is doing way better than my EP „In My feelings“, which came out just last year. And for where I am in my work and in my life, I’m very happy with the turnout. I’m all about my artistic integrity. And when you’re being true to yourself artistically, you will always be stuck in the middle. There will be people who hate what you do, and people who love what you do. And I’m learning, that that’s just fine.

Also, I don’t need people to cuddle me all the time and tell me I’m amazing because I know I’m amazing and really love what I do. At the same time I’m my biggest critic. Nobody can out criticise me. I know where all the actual flaws are in my work.

Music critics don’t seem to find too many of those.

They loved „Box Office“. Was that also a surprise?

That was almost unreal for me. That people who could be really, fundamentally critical of my work gave me so much praise and are comparing me to big mainstream names in music. That was really generous of them and wonderful for me because „Box Office“ of course is just the beginning for me, it’s not the extent of what I’m capable of. I can push myself to do more and work harder.

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Total look - Marina Hoermanseder

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Total Look - WorkingTitles Necklace - Dolce&Gabbana Shoes - Saint Laurent

You know, it’s funny that people who don’t actually listen to the kind of music that I make and simply don’t like it, are so critical. I don’t like a lot of pop music. And if you show me Ariana Grande or something like that, I’m gonna say it’s bad. Just because I’m not into pop. That’s all. It’s taste, not a judgement of ability. But to clear that right up: I like Ariana Grande (laughs).

Why do you think some Drag Race fans think they could react so negatively?

A portion of the Drag Race-fanbase has become extremely spoiled. Many people who go on that show and use that platform now, do everything they do for the fanbase. And that’s a beautiful thing. But I, as an artist and a person, am just not like that. I don’t make art for other people, I make art to express myself. I make art to make people who have been in my shoes before happy and to stimulate emotions.

That can be happiness but also anger or sadness. So, if you’re mad at my music, you’re doing exactly what I want you to do. If you’re happy with my music, you’re doing exactly what I want you to do. In the end I feel I always win, because I got to stimulate a lot of emotions, whether those are positive or negative emotions.

So the reaction of the public to your work doesn’t matter to you as an artist?

Not whether it’s financially successful, no. But „Box Office“ achieved both. It was a commercial success, at least in my world, and I stimulated a lot of emotions with it, which was exactly what I had hoped for. Some members of the public will always think they get to dictate an artists sense of success, but they just don’t. It’s like that Lady Gaga quote I have always loved her for: „That’s why I’m the artist and you’re the public.“ Which is just very true. You can judge but you can never take away my success, or my experiences and everything I worked hard for on my own.

Because they belong to me, my name is written on them.

Is what you’re doing now more of an artistic expression of your actual self than what you did on Drag Race?

I was in a different place in my life back then, not as comfortable with myself as I am now. I wanted to be liked by these people and by this fandom. I grew up in a spot where I really had to work hard, to be heard and I feel Drag Race was another one of those times where I had to work really hard to be heard. Afterwards I learned that I had my own voice and that I don’t need to pander to the system. It is true, the moment I really started to be myself, a lot of people distanced themselves from me. But many people also started to gravitate closer. I gained a lot of fans who were actually interested in me as a person, not the superficial tease of a TV-personality. It became a lot less about „I love your looks“ and „You’re so funny“ and a lot more about „I want to know more of your story because i’m interested in you for you.“ And for me that’s more meaningful. Everybody is different and some people love the other stuff more, but I don’t. I always wanted a voice and to be able to be myself has given me more of that voice.

Last year you gave an interview in which you distanced yourself somewhat from drag and said you are not a drag performer but a queer artist. Was that the start of the trajectory you’re on now?

I never really had a drag persona. After my second round in drag race I had a weird kind of identity crisis in which I couldn’t tell who I was for a second. I started to really struggle with the idea of gender and personality. I then realised; I always thought I had this drag character but I really didn’t, that’s just me. Aja has never been a drag personality or performance. It’s just a stage name for who I am 24/7. My friends and my partner call me Aja. And I sort of prefer it to my birth given name. It is simply who I am.

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What does your mom call you?

My mom calls me by my birth name. And I let her.

Because she raised me and I give her respect. She did not birth me but she made me. She taught me everything I know about life and can call me anything she likes.

But does your mom understand who Aja is, and that you’re Aja? She understands who Aja is, yes. And she gets me. But still calls me by my childhood nicknames. Which is fine.

Because I’m sure, if I sat her down and were like: „Look, I need you to call me by this or that name.“, she would do so. But, honestly, I really don’t care. Because names and labels are just another part of materialism trying to separate and categorise things. Which is bullshit. Even the „drag“label, or even the „queer artist“-label, in all honesty, I really don’t care about that. I’m just a musician, an artist, just somebody who creates content.

Was your view on art always that wide?

I couldn’t really tell you. It all just sort of happened. I started writing music when I was really young, about ten or eleven years ago. And then I discovered drag as another way to express certain things. I was sixteen and performing in competitions around New York and then it skyrocketed and I realised that I could financially support myself doing it. Even as a local artist in New York, if you pull your strings right, you’ll be fine. And listen, bitch, I’m a Capricorn, I like stability. So I’m good at talking to people to get what I need. Even before I was 21, which is the legal age where you can start performing, I had three or four weekly gigs and was traveling to perform in other places. I was doing okay but I was not doing the best. So I decided to aim for a higher platform. And that was when I decided to try to do Drag Race. But I also walked onto that set, knowing that it’s not a real competition, it’s a reality television show. And I knew that you can’t prepare yourself for reality television. It’s always gonna be a mindfuck.

Have you healed from that yet?

Yes. I feel like this year is sort of, when I hit rock bottom, but then wrote about it and realised, it’s over, I don’t have to deal with it any more. Part of that process was learning that my views as an artist did not align with that anymore.

I actually really respect everyone who does Drag Race, all the other artists, and everybody who works on the show.

And I’m incredibly thankful for the platform that was given to me by the show. I don’t think less of the program and really appreciate it, but I also am ready to do something else now. Beyonce didn’t stay in Destinys Child forever, just because she started there. And I don’t mean to say that I’m some leader of the pack or something like that. I just think, just because you’re known for being part of some collective, you have to remain a part of that collective forever. A lot of the girls in Drag Race should branch out and do what they want to do and stop trying to feed the system. Because the drag race fandom is not for everybody. It certainly isn’t for black people who have opinions. Because every time a black person says something the Drag Race fans don’t agree with, they get pushed aside, they get unfollowed and then they get trash-talked.

Why do you think that is when the most famous person in the show and the person who the show is named after, is a person of colour?

RuPaul has created themself as a drag icon, and that is what Ru is known for. Everybody who knows RuPaul respects him. I mean, Ru was mentioned by fuckin’ Biggy in his rap.

And I don’t really want to dig deeper into the race issue, but RuPaul as a mother is a stereotype of black women being this matriarchal figure, which is also why people respect queens like Latrice. Because they come across nice and motherly. Maybe they are not like that all the time, but it’s a comfortable image for an audience that has people with micro-aggressive racial tendencies within it.

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“Aja has never been a drag personality or performance.

It’s just a stage name for who I am 24/7.

But when performers like Vixen who are younger and more opinionated say something, all hell breaks loose.

But isn’t it good, that all hell breaks loose because the discussion is being had?

But at what cost? People may praise them for the discussion but still throw them aside like a piece of garbage. The discussion might be happening, but who is still being booked for everything? Who is still getting the love from the „fans“? It is the popular white queens. It is the black queens who did not have an opinion. And not everybody needs to be part of the discussion. But those that are should not be criticised as much.

Is it important for you to be part of that discussion?

It is important for me, yes. I’m mixed race, I’m black and Arab and I do benefit from having lighter skin, so I have that privilege. And I think it is important to raise my voice in that discussion. Because of my light skin privilege, people will listen to what I have to say, before they listen to what someone who has darker skin might have to say. And it’s sad, that that is the truth, but it is the thing that has been perpetuated.

Total look - Richert Beil

What can be done about that?

I think it’s time for people to give everyone a chance, regardless of race or gender. It is also time to end the cancelling part of our fake woke era. People saying „This person is canceled“ and „That person is canceled“ was supposed to enforce people being „woke“, being extremely politically correct and knowledgable. But why is it, that most people being cancelled in the Drag Race paraphernalia are black? When it comes to me, I just want everybody to have a chance. I just don’t appreciate the double standard, when the only difference between people is, that one is black and one is white.

Do you think that in your lifetime, there will come a point when all of that, race, gender etc., will be a nonissue?

I’m sure Drag Race will end before any of that gets resolved. RuPaul is getting older and I’m not sure that anybody will want to carry on that legacy the same way RuPaul has. Do I hope it gets fixed? Yes. Do I think it will get fixed? No.

My friends and my partner call me Aja. And I sort of prefer it to my birth given name. It is simply who I am.”

Do you still watch Drag Race?

I already have lost a lot of interest in the show. Once you do it, you know how everything works. But I always want to be in the loop of the conversation with the newer girls, give advice, if I can. Trixie, Bianca or me have done different things with our careers. I want to tell the girls, that they have options, tell the black girls „Don‘t let anything get you down. Don‘t let these people try create a narrative.“. And do the same for the white girls. At this day and age, the actual battle we should be fighting is a different one. Queer people have created so much, a real movement, in fashion, in art, in cinema. And so often we are not the face of that movement when it‘s presented to the public. So, if we could throw all the stupid shit aside, stop criticising people within our own community so much, then we could take care of that, see more queer people in the forefront of media and art. Because that‘s what we need.

You as an artist, as a performer, as a queer person, when do you feel most beautiful?

I feel most beautiful when I wake up in the morning and am in my most natural state. No make up, no nothing, just me. I spend years developing that love for who I am as a person. Because as a queer person and a person of colour, you are taught so much and so early that you‘re not supposed to love yourself because there is something wrong with you. As a person of colour you‘re taught that your natural features are ugly, that your skin is bad and 21

"Bowie got in drag, Beyoncé gets in drag, Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga get in drag before they hit the stage. For me it‘s the same shit." that there is something wrong with your hair. It took me twenty years to feel really beautiful with myself, as myself.

Is moving away from drag, and the armour and disguise that drag can also be seen as, part of that?

I never really viewed drag as an armour or disguise. For me drag is just clothing. It‘s just something you put on before you go on stage. I feel like everyone gets in drag.

Bowie got in drag, Beyonce gets in drag, Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga get in drag before they hit the stage. For me it‘s the same shit.

Is there a difference for you, when you perform in drag or not in drag?

It‘s the same thing. I mean, the European tour that I did for „Box Office“ and the shoot that I did for KALTBLUT, half of it was in boy drag. It was masculine presenting drag. I did not wear lashes or presented as female, but it was still drag.

Is boy drag just as much as drag as female drag?

Of course, why wouldn‘t it be?

Dress - Danny Reinke Gloves - Dawid Tomaszewski

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Is that because masculinity is just as much a performance as femininity is?

Of course. Gender itself is a performance.

For me gender doesn‘t even exist. Gender is just this idea, a stupid construct, that was placed on us, because we have a penis or vagina or something. Because of an X or a Y chromosome. Because one person has menstrual cycles and the next person doesn‘t. It‘s that stupid. Gender is an idea that was placed on us, like every other label, to enforce patriarchy.

Total look - Richert Beil

Do you think the general Drag Race audience reflects as much on gender roles and societal norms as you do?

I‘m all about having these conversations and letting people know how I feel. But do I expect other people to follow me? No, not all the time. But there are a lot of people who appreciate me having these conversations.

And there is nothing that warms my heart more than seeing people who have been touched by what I have to say. Who are like „I needed to hear this, thank you.“ What are you working on right now?

When this interview comes out, my new EP will have been released. The EP is about the transition into me being myself as an artist. It is weird when people try to put me in a box and say „You‘re a drag queen, you can‘t be a musician. This is weird. I wanna see a drag show not a rap show.“ People can be really rigid. Which is frustrating. And people kept saying, „Put that in the music.

Write about it.“ Which at first I did not want to do, because I did not want to draw even more attention to the transition process but then I realized „Fuck you all, I‘m gonna write about it.“ And if this causes certain people not to like me, again, I don‘t care. I know my fans will love it and if the people that already hate me, hate me even more, so be it. Making your audience feel something is all what being an artist is about.

Dress - Marina Hoermanseder

ajakween.com / @ajathekween

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THIS CITY PINK

IS

You've probably heard how some people call Tel Aviv the white city. The reason why; white buildings of Bauhaus style are plentiful all over the city but when you are on the street, living day-by-day, white is not the colour I would describe this place. It’s pink.

It’s pink in all meanings. The light here is pink and soft by the early morning and evenings. You will remember that next time you see the sunset and pink clouds over the sea. It’s pink because of people; free spirits and very tender. It’s pink because of the colour on the walls, and white is not the main choice for buildings. It’s pink because it’s a new nation and a new city and it should be pink, just take it as a fact.

Photos by @depuiscematin Models are Ken Brezel, Tom Dvash, Dale Ratcliff, Ori Paniri and Thibaut Eiferman

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The Young Royals Photography and creative direction

by Karl Slater Stylist by Lewis Robert Cameron Makeup by Grace Ellington, using Weleda UK Hair by Pricilla Pilling using American Crew Models are Daniel Stentzler from PRM and Fabio Harris from NEVS

Fabio Earring - ELVHEM Top - TRAFALUC Trousers - Nathalie Coste Daniel Earring - ELVHEM Shorts - Aleksandra Lalic

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Coat - Ana Ljubinkovic

Trousers - Ana Ljubinkovic

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Blazer - Ana Ljubinkovic Crown - Elena Economou

Fabio Headband - House of LoLo Trousers - Nathalie Coste Daniel Coat - Ana Ljubinkovic

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Headband - House of LoLo Dress - Ana Ljubinkovic

Ruffe - PRTTYBOI

Jeans - Chema Diaz

Coat - Ana Ljubinkovic Shorts - Aleksandra Lalic

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Daniel Blazer - Ana Ljubinkovic Fabio Blazer - Ana Ljubinkovic

Home away from home in the Pugliese kitchen of Osteria Del Tempo Perso Text and photos by Colette Pomerleau colettepomerleau.com

Earlier this year, I ran to catch trains with unexpected arrival times and rode through the countryside in a rickety unmarked bus to discover a famous Pugliese kitchen in the bleached out village of Ostuni, Italy.

Osteria Del Tempo Perso is situated in a former bakery, which occupied the space from the 1950s until the ‘80s when the Carlucci family took over.

This semi-natural space was built around 500 years ago and allows its guests to be immersed in an intriguing contradiction of space: cosy interiors inside of a rock face.

Thoughtful details comprised most of the charm for the restaurant, which included unique ceramic dishes exclusively made for them from a ceramist in Grottaglie.

The brighter room features a mural spanning across the back wall, persuading any and everyone who comes through to take a closer look. Antonello Carlucci, the son of the restaurant’s owner, explained how a local artist who often dined in

the osteria was invited one day to create a piece for his favourite place. He painted well-known characters from the small town in the piece, creating a preservation of that time and adding to the history of the space. Antonello himself grew up between these rooms, dedicating his life to his family’s business and still looked over the corners he must have memorized with deep affection.

My lunch hosts, Claudio and Angelo, guided me through their awe-inspiring signature dishes over the course of a few hours, but this really could have been extended over a few days. This marathon of burrata, stracchino, pumpkin and chickpea purée, decorative edible flowers from France, crunchy octopus faintly reminiscent of southern American comfort food, and local red wine put me into a coma I had never experienced before. I didn’t want to come out.

Osteria Del Tempo Perso truly serves slow food, focused on simple ingredients with a flair observed only through their presentation. The menu changes daily, a confirmation their ingredients are as fresh as they can be. For a culture that is quite far off from one I grew up with, I felt a visceral familiarity throughout my visit in the Osteria.

For travellers seeking their own home away from home, this is the place to land.

Special thanks to Osteria Del Tempo Perso for the extraordinary hospitality. osteriadeltempoperso.com 35

In the studio with Cinga Samson Interview by Nicolas Simoneau and Manuel Moncayo Photos by Dehan Germishuys @dehangermishys and PR

Ivory (iii), Oil on canvas, 119 x 80 cm 36

During my trip to Cape Town I had the pleasure of meeting with Cinga Samson and got the chance to explore the world of the artist behind these beautiful paintings. Our interview took place in his atelier located in Woodstock which took me deep into his artistic process.

How did you become a visual artist?

At first, I was just a child who had access to pens, pencils and crayons. But as I grew up and became a teenager, it developed into a habit of drawing constantly. We'd have competitions with the local kids, trying to determine who drew better.

Then when I was 20 or 21 I was looking for something to do and I thought maybe legal studies because I wanted job security. And while I was going through that process I walked into a local studio and saw a couple of artists working there. I said, "I can draw too!" – one of them asked me to show him so I rushed home and got my drawings. He said to me "here's paper and a few oil pastels, do something!"

Even though they didn't say that I didn't belong, somehow I felt like that child who walks in and keeps showing up every day. I used to come very early in the morning when the studio opened and I left when it closed.

They allowed me to do that until they gave me my own space. So that's how I started in 2006. And from that point on I never stopped.

Your work is very much influenced by the spiritual.

Superstitions, heritage, beliefs…how do you use all these elements in your work?

I am my own influence when it comes to superstitions.

I come from the Xhosa people, who are extremely superstitious. The family on my father's side is very Christian. So spirituality and superstition are in my DNA. Whether it is what I want, or acknowledge or believe or don't believe in, it is part of who I am, of my identity. And I've had some encounters myself, out of body experiences, seeing things… these are part of my life, just like they are a part of the life of many African people throughout the continent. There are families out there who are very much attached to certain rituals. Like slaughtering a goat when a woman has given birth and using the skin as a welcoming blanket for the newborn. Young boys go through a rite of passage into manhood, and a ritual pleads the ancestors to protect them. It's ongoing, it's there, and I wanted to incorporate that into my work.

What's your creative process like? Do you start with an idea? Or do you already have an image in mind?

It all starts with a feeling. Feeling in the sense that I'll want to do an artwork that shows me, very sensual. But I only have an idea of how to do it. Then I'll organize a shooting around that idea, that feeling, and from there we'll print these images and throw them on the canvas. So I go from a feeling to an idea, how to begin, how it should be, and once I've got this structure, there's a shoot and I start on the canvas. And that's when it all comes to life.

And how do you know when to stop?

When it matches the feeling. When it makes sense. It's like the death scene of the villain in a movie. Suddenly the light makes sense – when he's gone, you know he's truly dead and he won't wake up after this. There's a light coming out and the sky clears up. It's the same thing.

You feel your piece it's complete. The picture you have in front of you is believable, you are convinced by the feeling it is conveying. Take a snake, for example, you see the shimmering of its skin, its beauty and yet it is so deadly.

Once my artwork has those elements. When I feel that beauty and that terror, I know it is done.

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Uboya Benya (i), 2019, oil on canvas, 84 x 63 x 5 cm 38

I saw, then I knew it, (2017) , Oil on canvas, 80 x 60 cm 39

“I always look for power in a work, a bold energy.�

Ivory (v), Oil on canvas, 119 x 80 cm

Isn't it difficult to work on several pieces at the same time?

I've never worked on just one piece. I get bored so I need to switch to something else. If I'm painting a landscape, at some point I get tired and I feel the need to go paint something else. I find that the most difficult thing for me is to paint just one picture. Sometimes it takes me the same amount of time to work on one picture that it would take me to paint three! I'm not bored by painting, I'm bored by painting this.

You use yourself as a model. Is it easier for you to be able to picture yourself, or could it be someone else entirely?

It could be someone else but there is something in me that is important. I'm sort of playing with my subconscious. I didn't start with me. I only got to me because when I looked in the mirror I had the right body for the model I wanted to paint and I was so desperate to find the right one. It was also at a time when I started to feel more comfortable with myself, my body, my sexuality, my background. In fact I wanted to put it all out there for an audience to see. But I never meant for me to be the model, it was not a conscious decision, it happened by chance and somehow I became the constant subject of my work. Plus I was tired of complaining of all the things that I couldn't change so I really wanted to create work that reflected something other than poverty, HIV, injustice, Apartheid, colonialism. They might have been a part of our history and still affect the present day but this is not our identity as a people. Somehow, all of that mesh together into that one moment when I'm painting on canvas.

Being part of a young generation of artists building the new identity of the African continent, what do you consider important to leave behind or to highlight?

Identity has to do with who you are. Apartheid is not who we are even though we can still feel its effects. Today the conversation here at home doesn't revolve around the Apartheid. People's experiences of joy and sadness might have been conditioned by that past but there are things that have been here long before and that are more prevalent in my pictures. But often when you talk to someone about your problems, in their eyes, these problems become your identity. It's human nature. But it is not who you are, it is just something that you're going through. That's why I made it a point for instance, to not use the word "Black" anymore because in people's minds it is associated with Apartheid, racism, colonialism. I decided to use "African" instead. It includes not just Blacks but everyone else living on the continent who experienced these different moments in our history in the same space. I tried to think about these things in a new way. That's my contribution as a member of the young generation of African artists.

There is in your work an attraction to fashion. What is your relationship with fashion?

When you paint things, they get highlighted. I wanted to use daily items in a way that shows ambition, pride, self-love. Imagine seeing someone wearing a fake Louis Vuitton jacket. Why is it so important to that person to wear Louis Vuitton? Because those letters represent a brand, a lifestyle that many desire.

Because you want to be seen in a better light. Vuitton or Versace represent this desire that young people have to keep up with the latest trends. I can't afford these brands but I can find them on the streets. So I include these items in my artwork and they get highlighted. In the end, you want to be a part of what's happening globally. That's my relationship with fashion.

In terms of evolution, what has changed in your work from the very first piece that you have created up until the one you're working on right now?

I always look for power in a work, a bold energy. I've always looked for that but early on I wasn't sure how to get it the way that I wanted. Now I have a better understanding of the colours and the tools that I use. So everything has changed, except for the desire to create work with a strong energy. It's an entire language. Other artists use the same language but differently. In a way I am still a child in this. There are so many things that I have yet to learn and try. I realize that I've only explored a small portion of a much bigger world.

Ivory (iv), Oil on canvas, 119 x 80 cm 40

Does the fact that your pieces are now displayed in galleries change the way that you approach your work?

Of course. Absolutely. Someone once said to me "it is easier to be an underdog". It can be hard to get attention at the beginning. You get rejected a lot. So you spend a lot of time in the studio, messing around with your paint.

But when you start to get what you want and to be seen, there is pressure. Time is both a motivator and a major enemy of creativity. On the other hand, it pushes you to move forward. You do your work and then you're forced to let go and move on to something else. That's the dynamics that come with working with galleries. There are timeframes, engagements and schedules. When you

were not recognized as an artist, you always took the work home, there were no time constraints but you were secretly dying to have deadlines. Now that you are attractive, you have deadlines.

I'm happy with that but sometimes I wish I could have more time. So you need to adapt and find balance.

I read in an interview you did for the gallery that you wanted to do sculpture and installations?

I have done some installations in the past, that were paired with some paintings. When you're a painter sometimes you get too consumed by just painting. It takes you longer to warm up to other art forms. I did this installation with used pots. We went to the countryside where these pots came from. We interviewed people, looking for men who had tried their best to take care of their families. We went into their homes, and we replaced the old pots with new ones. We wanted to exhibit the old ones as symbols of good men, who are hard to find these days. I don't mean perfect men, but responsible men. Like fathers who tried their best and didn't neglect their families or husbands who didn't abuse their wives. We wanted to know how they did it. We visited seven homes and found seven men whose stories we admired and who provided for their families. It was a learning experience. We asked them how they did it. They literally started from the bottom, cooking with those pots on the ground with fire and no electricity. So we took those pots, each one representing a home, as symbols of these men taking their responsibilities.

Ivory (i), Oil on canvas, 119 x 80 cm

I was looking at the artwork you have in the gallery and I saw this ivory series. I love the play on masculinity. Do you remember the feeling that started it all?

I'm very gentle, that's my nature. That's always been an issue in my past, with myself and in relation to others. I was told I was weak and soft. Nothing to do with my personality but it's the aura that I carry around. Someone saw that as a weakness. I embodied it but I hated it at the same time. but it became my thing. I put it in my artwork, the people I paint wear it on their faces. In another piece you can see an aggressive man. I was in the studio once and there were politicians there, and this man was here looking at my work and he just said the word "faggot".

And that word‌ that word bothered me so much. There's such anger attached to it. So my question was, why is there only one type of men that is admired and idealized by society? I was wondering why are very masculine men always praised as "real" men? What about the other men, because there is a whole bunch of different types of men out there. So the series started with that initial question.

What artists inspire you?

I love Nicholas Hlobo’s work. There is something voodoo in his work. I have that in my work as well, even though we don't call it voodoo here. You don't see the bones, the skulls or the blood but there's this presence in his work, this aura. And we're both Xhosa men, he's gay and he talks about that in his work. Now he uses copper but he used to work with soft material like lace, which accentuated the voodoo quality in his work. Peter Clarke is another artist that I admired. He passed away a few years ago.

I loved his philosophy. Sometimes you meet someone who has clarity, who is so wise and challenges you as an artist and as a person. He once told me "if I were you I would go to someone I want to work with and tell them 'I know you've been waiting for me, here I am, here's my work, let's work together." When he said that it sounded ridiculous but if I had had that attitude when I started I could have achieved a lot more. But I was so intimidated. He used to tell me this proverb: "chance favors those who are prepared for it." Be prepared and just do it! He left me with that and now every time I look at his work, I get lifted. I remember all the things he told me when I was young.

His work is more than just art, it's what he said as well. He really influenced my work. His mind was on another level.

Before the day has a meaning, 2017, Oil on canvas, 80 x 60 cm

@cinga_samson www.blankprojects.com/artists/cinga-samson/ All images 'Courtesy of the artist and blank projects' 41

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A Toilet-side Chat with Gurr Interview by Nolan Parker, Co-founder of music magazine Schmutz

“What’s so cool about Berlin is that it’s so creative and artists from multiple genres collaborate and experiment with each other, going beyond genre borders and exploring new art forms” 44

It can be tough to lay down roots in Berlin. The city is so transient that to invest time in people and projects can end in heartbreak or a bad taste in one's mouth. On the other hand, that’s one of Berlin’s charms: you can move here, get a job under the table and live out your creative dreams because rent is still relatively cheap and it’s easy enough to fare dodge on the U-Bahn. But when we tracked down Laura Lee and Andreya Casablanca, the two dream weavers of Berlin-based band Gurr, in a glamorously pink (but very dingy) venue bathroom, they seemed to have other things to say about Berlin, what they’ve built here, and where they’re taking Gurr.

Building a community, especially in the music world, is often essential in the creative process and Gurr is well versed in building creative communities, not only around themselves but also for/with other people. Earlier this year, Gurr launched a concept called We Formed A Band (@weformedaband) in hopes of getting more females, non-binary folks, and POC involved in making music.

Explaining the concept of We Formed A Band (WFAB), Lee and Casablanca are clearly passionate about (as I hope we all are) opening music up to more than cis, white males, encouraging those who submit to WFAB to use more inclusive language, screening every concept that comes through: “We try to encourage people, when they

send us stuff, to be more inclusive so more people feel addressed. They have been super receptive to what we’ve had to say.” But when queried about other community and government funding for music, the girls started spouting name after name of initiatives and foundations that are trying to give music-minorities more visibility, well aware that there is a growing front of creative support for those that might have thought that they were being left behind by music funding bodies. Don’t be shy, reach out, form a band.

Gurr has just released their latest EP, ‘She Says’, this past April to the delight of their fans and to anyone looking for the ideal soundtrack for a utopian Berlin summer. ‘She Says’ pulls influence from all over the musical map including doo-wop, surf, indie, etc. and includes tracks sung in both English and German. But what is possibly the most important statement made on the EP comes from the concept and the title track itself, She Says. A melancholic slow-burn of a track, turning the magnifying glass of society on itself, addressing how people can perceive women, piling mountains of expectation on them while lending no support. The lyrics, “All the people tell her how to live but she lives so much that she can’t give” float through the speakers, challenging the listener to consider how they move through the world and what unintentional effects an individual might have on those around them. Infectious and thought-provoking, a form of musical storytelling that runs throughout the ‘She Says’ EP and a mood that Gurr has seemingly mastered.

Even though Gurr is releasing new music and touring heavily, not only outside of Germany but also outside of Europe, it doesn’t feel like a stretch to say that a “guitar band” might encounter some resistance coming from the techno capital of the world. But when asked about if they had caught any flack from the tech-heads, they immediately squashed the notion in favour of a more collaborative spirit: “Yeah, techno and electronic music are everywhere in Berlin but it’s also in every other city. But what’s so cool about Berlin is that it’s so creative and artists from multiple genres collaborate and experiment with each other, going beyond genre borders and exploring new art forms,” hilariously sighting the original White Trash Fast Food venue in Berlin as a prime example. Lee and Casablanca remember the days when the venue would have live music every night (nights including some of Gurr’s first shows), literally forcing the burger eating, fast food crowd to listen to music they might never have encountered, exposing people to the live music side of Berlin’s scene.

The landscape of Berlin, specifically its music scene, is changing rapidly; venues are being shut down (R.I.P. Bassy and White Trash), people are moving away, projects are reaching their end (R.I.P. Berlin Community Radio) but the Gurr gals are champions of a still thriving underground. They help book their friends’ bands and DJ at venues like 8MM and use their reach as Gurr to let a wider network of people know what’s good in Berlin, even if they have nothing to do with it. This is a mentality that more and more creatives in Berlin are adopting: artists helping other artists out in the scene and not worrying about their cliques or who’s who. Gurr thinks that if more people create music and support each other, the whole scene, not just Berlin’s, will be better for it. One of the places that is still up and running that Gurr loves to hang out at (when they’re not on the road) is Loophole, a small bar/venue and they only have one reservation about it... “It’s so good that it’s always so full!” Laura regales a comedic story about Loophole that might be partly to blame for why some Berlin venues are shutting down and why some thrive: “The neighbours hate that place.

“We try to encourage people, when they send us stuff, to be more inclusive so more people feel addressed. They have been super receptive to what we’ve had to say.”

I was outside when I was at a show there once and a neighbour from upstairs was really mad at the noise. So she dumped a bucket of water from her window and it completely drenched me. Loophole is a dangerous place, don’t go there.

But... go there.” If you live above a venue or a bar and you’re enjoying the cheap rent it affords, you should probably expect a certain amount of noise, especially if it’s in Neukölln.

Berlin is only special due to the people who inhabit it and Lee and Casablanca are two of the best examples of humans making the city a more textured place. Before the gals had to dash, they threw out some words in rapid-fire succession they thought best described Berlin: boobs, tears, lipstick, cookie, red, teeth.

Catch Gurr on their European tour this summer and a special thank you to the BeatBites team for making this happen. Keep an eye out for the full video feature with Gurr and more Berlin-based artists on KALTBLUT. BeatBites @beatbites.tv Executive Producer: Kimbo Kim Producer: Emily Strange @emilymstrange Nick Grady @snakeskinboots Director: Theo Sixou @theosixo DOP: Antoine Plouzen Photography: Sharlene Durfey @sharlenedurfey Author: Nolan Parker @saltcvlt @schmutzberlin

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Model + artist LISETTE ROS

Photo LONNEKE VAN DER PALEN

Graphic design STUDIO NOTO

FASHIONCLASH.NL

One To Watch:

Filipe Augusto Interview by Marcel Schlutt Backstage photo by © MODALISBOA Photos by Dulce Daniel www.modalisboa.pt

Filipe Augusto is one of my favourite menswear designers in 2019. The young designer was born and raised in Peso da Régua, lives in Porto where, starting in 2014, he did his fashion degree at MODATEX. After graduating in October 2016, he starts interning at the fashion house of Portuguese designer, Luís Buchinho.

In 2017 and 2018, he presented his collections at Sangue Novo, the Young Designers Competition of ModaLisboa, Portugal. In the first edition of the competition, he received an honourable mention and in the second was distinguished with the first place. In June 2018, he also won the FashionClash Festival award, in Maastricht. In October 2018, he integrates the new platform of young designers of ModaLisboa, Workstation. I had a chat with Filipe about his work and his new F/W19-20 collection.

“From 8 to 8 comes the one who looks best on Sunday mass. Sunday suit, with a notable crease which follows the sound of elevated bronze”

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How did you get started with fashion design?

When I was at high school one of my teachers encourage me to persue a fashion career because he saw some potential in me when I did a project about historical fashion.

Why did you choose this career?

It’s always been my passion.

Tell us about your line. What was your inspiration for your new FW19/20 collection?

Since I’ve started working in fashion I’ve always been inspired by the countryside. For this specific line, I’m inspired by the families who go to the church, especially on Sundays, the day they choose their best clothes.

“From 8 to 8 comes the one who looks best on Sunday mass. Sunday suit, with a notable crease which follows the sound of elevated bronze.”

What techniques do you use? Tell us about the process.

Tailoring: I try execute it very well.

Knitting: I use doubled necklines, which combine men and woman necklines.

Layers: In all my collections I always layered different types of clothes.

What challenges did you face?

In order to have a good fitting and finishing, I had to be very precise while executing the garments.

What were your achievements?

I feel that my achievements are when I have amazing feedback from the media and buyers.

Who do you look up to when it comes to aesthetics?

I usually follow my own aesthetic, I don’t usually follow any trends. Although I find Raf Simons and Craig Green the best designers from our generation.

As a designer from Portugal, a country with a rich history, how much of your culture can we see in your designs?

A lot, because I’m inspired by small villages in the countryside.

What does it take to have true taste?

Being authentic and designing for yourself, following your own taste.

How do you measure success?

By following my heart.

How important is ModaLisboa as a platform for a young designer like yourself?

ModaLisboa gave me a platform which helped to introduce my work not only in my country but also abroad.

Where do you think fashion is at the moment because it feels like it’s a little bit stagnent?

A bit repetitive, I feel that most of the designers tend to follow the same trends over and over.

Where do you see yourself and your brand in 10 years?

I see myself being copied by the Chinese market! @filipe.aaugusto 49

The personal as political with

Luminous Doom - 2019 - Oil on Canvas - 135 x 195 cm - Image courtesy of SMAC Gallery - Copyright Kate Gottgens 50

Kate Gottgens Interview by Nicolas Simoneau and Manuel Moncayo Photos by Dehan Germishuys @dehangermishys and PR

As a young female artist working in South Africa there were a number of struggles for Kate Gottgens to overcome.

Having forged her career as a full-time artist she only found herself re-emerging into a new phase of her career in her 40s.

She shared her thoughts with me on the balance of the art life and the path of motherhood, and coming to terms with the fact that her subject matter was going to be quite domestic. By finally painting domestic scenes, interiors, family, she let herself be authentic to what her lifestyle was and is – and her study of the suburban life is truly mesmerizing.

What is your background? How did you become a painter?

I grew up in Ponte, South Africa. My background is middle class. I had a stay-athome mother and my father was in hotels.

He worked for Holiday Inn, which is an influence that comes into my work because we travelled while he established Holiday Inn hotels along the coast of South Africa.

So the swimming pool is quite a big feature in my work, I think, because of that first experience going to the hotel, eating ice cream and swimming in the pool. I think I first knew I would become a painter when I was in high school. I studied Fine Arts at the University of Cape Town and since then I have been working on and off, supplemented with other work on movies or scenic painting. But mostly I've been trying to be a full-time artist.

While preparing for this interview, we could find very little information about you online and I am left with only your artwork and its reviews. Is this a conscious decision? To let your work speak for yourself?

Maybe it's because I started off with a PR group when I left University and then I had my first child when I was 24. I have 3 children and I had a setback with that, so I stopped exhibiting and participating in shows and I think I became a little bit invisible, being a woman with children. I think there was a level of invisibility for me for a while. Having this responsibility of taking care of a family, I kind of came and went from it.

This issue could also become quite political because there are very few successful female artists with children. Many make the decision to build a career and not have children because it's more important to them. Men can have both. This biological “disadvantage” comes as a compromise even if you don't want to. As a mother you “have” to be nurturing and available, but as an artist you are narcissistic, doing 51

“I am obsessed with paint.

It's what I get up to do every day.”

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your own thing, creating and stimulating yourself. Both identities are in complete conflict. As a woman it seems like you only achieve success later in life, like Louise Bourgeois, Alice Neel or Betty Tompkins, because you're busy working your domestic life perhaps, alongside your career. Don't get me wrong, I’m very happy I made that choice, I love my children, but that's just reality.

When I started I saw a lot of white artists who were using the Apartheid in their work. I felt it was a little exploitative, because it wasn't their story. Today we have post-colonial discourse and #metoo campaigns, and sometimes that is just not your story to tell. But we didn't have that consciousness back in the 80s and 90s.

I didn't feel comfortable making political work or work about being a mother and having babies. And that is an ongoing problem because there is strong feminist art everywhere, but to find a way to make that work political and visible and to find a gallerist that's interested in it, that's very hard. A lot of the struggles and conversations that are in the public realm now were not so in those days. So how can you have the confidence to keep making your art when no one wants to promote it?

Some of your work feels extremely personal yet all of it has a clear personality. Is your work a personal chronicle or visual diary? Or do you consciously look for subjects to paint?

I am making artwork that is deeply affected by how I’ve lived. But I try to stay away from it being too personal, and I have a strategy for that, I appropriate imagery, I rarely use my own photographs. I research online, go to flea markets or auction houses too. If I respond to an image it is because it feels familiar or something from that photograph is connected to me in an unconscious narrative. It’s deeply intuitive. I think you cannot judge your own images critically. You'll instantly think, “Oh, this is beautiful” and I try to lose a bit of the imagery and let the application of the paint become more interesting, I do not like the form to be too stated and too crisp, so there must be dissolves, spills, bleeds and diffuse, softened layers, sometimes that goes even further into becoming quite abstract. I store all the images I work on, it's an archive. There's an attachment to that imagery and sometimes you go back to it because your respond to something and then five years later you respond to other qualities in it.

Surface and the many layers underneath it are a concept present in your work. How do you decide what to highlight, blur? Is there such a thing as a “message” in your art?

It is about manipulating a space, the image might become exciting when the background is coming forward and the foreground is disappearing. I try to create a psychological atmosphere by changing the way the space is perceived.

The process is rather organic and intuitive. You're always holding the conceptual, the content, the narrative, and also the application, the technique and the paint itself. I want to suggest a story, I want the paint to be interesting, so there's sort of a balancing act that happens within the process.

I start by putting down colour on the canvas to create shapes. It's very spontaneous. And there's immediately some “problems” that appear so I try to work with that. I often use a projector over the canvas to see the possibilities that could be integrated into the image.

Before I used to go further with these possibilities and, even when I was already satisfied with the composition, I would try other shapes on it. There's still a spontaneity, some spills, colors you don't expect in a certain place.

The paint itself has to feel alive enough that it also speaks, not just the image. Now, when I get to a feeling of satisfaction, I stop and decide that the image is finished.

Flash - 2017 - Oil on Canvas - 95 x 95 cm Image courtesy of SMAC Gallery - Copyright Kate Gottgens 53

Hypnotics - 2018 - Oil on Canvas - 150 x 150 cm - Image courtesy of SMAC Gallery - Copyright Kate Gottgens

“I have 3 children and I had a setback with that, so I stopped exhibiting and participating in shows and I think I became a little bit invisible, being a woman with children.�

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Once there's been enough exploration, once the layering is rich and complex and the image surprises you, then you can stop.

There's a distance between you and your subjects that creates an atmosphere of detachment. Is this concept relevant to your work?

Maybe it goes back to the conversation of it not being too personal. You need to make convincing work. But if it’s too close and too personal then it does not convince.

Your work has been incorporating more colour from your early works which are composed of grey tones, through to the recent ones which are far from monochromatic. Could you describe this process?

I was building confidence as a painter in order not to have to deal with colour. My earlier work was much more monochromatic, I was exploring what I wanted to paint and what I could do with paint. Now my confidence is built and I think of myself as a colourist. I think colour is an important part of my work at the moment, as well as mixing strange colours together. There is a psychological aspect to color: when I was doing monochromatic work, it goes back to the invisibility conversation we had earlier.

There was a time in my life when things were harder and I was feeling more depressed.

At the beginning I created a little body of work of ‘85 works that were all very small and very monochromatic, using a lot of ash. It was called “Asleep Inside You”. The mood, the atmosphere was very inward. I was working with shadow material, with the darker, hidden aspects of ourselves.

How has South Africa influenced your work?

One of the things I noticed when I started to collect images is that there were those tropes that reflected the country: it was mostly white people who owned the cameras back in the 60s and 70s. They were going to game reserves, showing their Christmas holidays, their

birthday parties. It's an archive of what existed here and it has definitely influenced my work. But I did not want to get stuck in that narrative so I looked online for imagery that could resonate in more universal terms. I'm not a painter of white suburbia anymore, but of the new world, not necessarily white but middle-class. We in South Africa worry about being too parochial, we want to belong in the global community. Therefore one of my initiatives has been to try and be part of a collective consciousness.

Since your debut, what has changed on the art scene in South Africa?

For many years, South Africa used to be isolated, sort of parochial, and there was not enough communication across countries. I think it has grown conceptually and it has become much more interesting in the way people work with materials, it has also become more international.

There is now an opening and an explosion of talent. Some of the galleries are participating in the International Art Fairs and these days there is an open conversation between artists, curators and museums. The entire South African art scene has grown and is much more dynamic. Politically it has also changed for the better. There used to be less representation across colors. Today some emerging artists are working with content that speak to their cultures and backgrounds. This is now being encouraged and nurtured and that's exciting.

You are part of a generation of artists building the new identity of the African Continent, what do you consider important to leave behind and -in contrast- to highlight?

You have to fight against your age, it is a good thing that we have millennial children. I think us old f*cking colonialists must die! But I can't erase my connections to that past. I have a photograph of my step-mother on top of a dead elephant. It’s brutal and barbaric, but powerful.

It reflects what happened here. There's also a photo of her father with two black men holding up the tusk of an elephant he has just killed. Art brings attention to the past to help us remember and to help us not repeat it. So in raising children we are raising conscious human beings who will hopefully continue to change the status quo and move things forward.

Do you produce any creative material besides what you show?

No, I like to paint, I love to paint, I am obsessed with paint. Maybe one day if I feel unstimulated or bored with paint but not yet. It's what I get up to do every day.

Do you think as an artist you have a responsibility towards your viewers?

It is something to resist. An artist must work very strongly against that. There can be a temptation, but you have to work hard to keep being creative. I have a very good relationship with my gallery.

They are very understanding and nurturing. I just want to take it slow and see what emerges.

I need some time to see if I can incubate new ideas. Last year I had a lot, from New York to Sidney… so this year I decided I was gonna take some me time, travel a bit. I'm gonna have a solo show at my gallery in February 2020, and maybe a third book. www.kategottgens.com / @kategottgens

A Dog's Lament - 2019 - Oil on Canvas - 135 x 195 cm - Image courtesy of SMAC Gallery - Copyright Kate Gottgens 55

Building Dystopia with Minimal Violence

“Minimal Violence is here to bring you a new reality” 56

There are moments of transgression–when pain becomes pleasure, when chaos becomes ecstasy, when a dystopia becomes utopia–that defy our perceptions.

Vancouver’s thrashing duo Minimal Violence, are masters of straddling these such moments. Helmed by Ashlee Lúk and Lida Pawliuk (Lida P), the two create high-octane techno–delivering a cacophony of sadistic rapture on their new album “InDreams”, their first full release with Ninja Tune offshoot, Technicolour.

InDreams occupies a place outside of our physical reality, a psychic state marketed and sold by the imaginary InDreams Inc.–the album its manifesto.

Coming off previous releases with 1080p and Genero, as well as a 2018 single on Technicolour, InDreams is the duo’s first full-release since forming in 2015.

Approaching the album, Lúk and Pawliuk (who are partners in life and music) were at first challenged by the prospect, “We had been struggling with...How do we make an album? How do we put everything together and give it a focus?”, Lúk reflects, seated next to Pawliuk at their creaky studio, Deep Blue. “So [we created] this whole fictional universe that was based on a fictional manifesto for this company that represents escapism, resistance against binaries, and things that we were interested in a very science fiction, or cyberpunk-esque way. We [then] put that together and shaped the album with that in mind.”

And that manifesto? “To break it down it’s basically about the psychic reality versus the physical reality, and in this future world, the company is able to sell

Interview by Alison Sinkewicz alisonsinkewicz.com Photos by Matt Tescon @one________________wingedangel you this psychic reality but argues against the hierarchy. So your psychic reality is just as valuable as your physical reality and the dream state,” Lúk explains with ease. Paired with visuals created by Max Kelan Pearce, who draws heavily from early industrial and rave imagery. Minimal Violence creates an immersive world where listeners submit upon entrance.

The resulting album is a fleshy steel vessel–a cyborgic mix of humanpunishing electronic noise that veers into territory uncontrolled by either Lúk or Pawliuk. However, these moments of machine cognition, where Pawliuk and Lúk seemingly lose control, are carefully approached. “It’s something we’re thinking about a lot,” says Lúk, who takes long pauses to look to Pawliuk before speaking, as if telepathically communicating.

“Personally, I feel like [it’s] we are still kind of working, on especially with live, [that] is trying to free from structure and find those moments of chaos.”

Newly acquired gear, such as an Access Virus A, help to shape a web of limitations, allowing Lúk and Pawliuk to discover strange and unsettling soundscapes.

Using their live sets as a ground for experimentation, Lúk and Pawliuk derive a majority of their album material from what they interpret what works based on the audience’s experience–incorporating spontaneity and immediacy into the tracks. “Our sets have a very ADHD [quality] and they shift from thing to thing very quickly, and we do that by rehearsing and not having it pre-programmed,” Lúk explains. “Having that ability but also be able to create a chaos while not straying too far from the structure.”

Structurally, the duo is tight. As is often cited, Lúk comes from a punk background, where brevity reigns and Pawliuk describes their musical background as diverse and piano-based with an adolescent punk phase (tendencies that seem hard to shake). Their desire to break from the confines of electronic music, which can feel bolted to hardware, stems in part from the seemingly contradictory freedom of guitar-based music. “Sometimes you can get really locked into structure with electronic music, even in your ability to diverge. There are limitations that you don’t have with a guitar,” explains Lúk. It’s a physicality that Lúk and Pawliuk translate into their live sets, giving in to a freedom of movement to totally dissolve into sound.

Disruption doesn’t end in the construction of their sound. There’s a conceptual backing to the entire Minimal Violence project, one that draws from the gender theory from prominent figures like Donna Haraway. In constructing a world like that of InDreams Inc., it is clear that Lúk and Pawliuk have long been interested in and applying such feminist posthumanist thinking into their artistic pursuits, yet they seem apprehensive to divulge the full extent of their research. “Academia can get very alienating, I get intimidated by it sometimes,” says Lúk. “We can process something but then to speak about it suddenly there's an imposter syndrome surrounding it. I guess cyberfeminism in a lot of ways is where gender theory is best played out because it uses the metaphors of cyborgs as a resistance to binaries, and it ties into the resistance.” Pawliuk adding, “It’s a zone of equality, more so.” Lúk continues, “I feel like that translates to how electronic music is its own little zone of equality.”

When questioned on this statement, of electronic being a zone of equality despite its male-dominance, Lúk clarifies that the pressures of patriarchy are present. “Generally, it’s not on the large scale, but on the minor scale.”

The woes they have experienced are familiar to women and non-binary people in electronic music. “You being approached by people at shows with people trying to intimidate you with their knowledge,” Lúk says, turning to Pawliuk. “Our [negative] experiences have been with the audience, rather than the electronic community. Maybe we are fortunate that we have a lot of men that are supportive?” Lúk adding, “I feel like such a dick saying that because I know that isn’t the situation. I think that we have been privileged to not experience that directly, but I do see it being played out in the community in others ways.”

Creating worlds, such as that of InDreams Inc. also protects you from societal the confines. Lúk and Pawliuk don’t set out to smash the patriarchy, to eradicate binaries, these hierarchies are unimportant, pre-occupations of a physical reality. Minimal Violence is here to bring you a new reality, tickets at the door. @minimalviolence 57

Materialistic

Photography by Edda & Lotte Styling by Jana Hรถft Creative Consultant is Cornelius Butow Makeup by Pia Sarkar Model is Ana C at Viva Models

Blouse - Mj2a81seen at STUDIO183 Pants - The Ragged Priest Earring - Jane Kønig Bag - Sandqvist Shoes - Suicoke

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Jacket - C.P. Company Jacket - MJ2a91

Pants, Longsleeve and Hat - Pugnat Glasses - Mykita x Maison Margiela Shoes - Kurt Geiger

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Jacket, Pullover - Arys Skirt - For Love & Lemons Earring - Jane Kønig Boots - Jeffrey Campbell

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Blouse, Pants - Joseph Earring - Jane Kønig Ring - Vibe Harsløf Bag - C.P. Company

Boots - Jeffrey Campbell

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Blouse - MJ2a91 Necklace - Jane Kønig

Jacket - Form of Interest seen at STUDIO183

Coat - Form of Interest Shoes - Ugg

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Gala Borovic

Words & Styling by Lewis Robert Cameron Photography by Karl Slater Model Daniel Stentzler @ PRM Hair by Pricilla Pilling Make-Up by Grace Ellington

#thebasecontinues KALTBLUT’s Lewis Robert Cameron sits down and chats to Serbian designer Gala Borovic fresh from her success at Ljubljana Fashion Week, where she took home the crown as the winning designer of the third season of Fashion Scout South East Europe, and her recent solo catwalk showcase at the 45th edition of Belgrade Fashion Week. Talking rave culture, Trump masks, spontaneous design and what we can evxpect to see come September, when this emerging designer presents her full collection with Fashion Scout at London Fashion Week.

Congrats on your FSSEE win at LJFW. What was going through your mind when you were announced as the winning designer?

Thank you very much. I was hoping but not expecting to win. After I was announced as the winner, I just had these weird sounds in my head shouting LONDON , LONDON, LONDON. LJFW and FSSEE were both truly unique experiences as I had a chance to meet creatives from the region and also to get constructive feedback from all the judges.

What do you think set you and your collection apart from the other designers competing?

I was working a lot on creating garments from scratch, Meaning creating the fabrics themselves as well as designing the prints and textures. I experimented a lot with hardware embellishments and liquid latex, sometimes combining both techniques. With this collection I was often playing with grotesque elements that are not always pleasing to the eye but intriguing for the mind. With every look there are elements to discover from all angles once you look closely and I think that is something that caught the judges’ eyes collectively.

finally, to stay true to the concept I was inspired to create. At the time, my ultimate goal was to reach the revolution of intuitive and eclectic creation by exploring the thin line between fashion and art.

Tell me about your winning collection “The Base”? What inspired it?

Here is a little story around “The Base”: In 2015 "The Base" was created as a private art studio, a modern space for escaping reality. The interior was built through the arrangement of many old things, second-hand furniture, antiques, waste and amateur art creations. During the 4 years, the Base developed for the purpose of its members. Every individual had subconsciously intended to leave trace in physical or spiritual form, thereby contributing development of this space. All the prints and textures from the collection itself are inspired by this place, especially by the artworks including sculptures and drawings.

You reference rave culture a lot, how has this inspired you as a designer?

Rave culture has a great impact on what I do. As I was growing I got involved in many rave scenarios, especially living in Belgrade and now in Amsterdam. Being inspired by freedom of expression I find raves to be the ideal place for exploring this concept and getting in contact with like-minded people.

“Living in the digital age of the 21st century, there’s no choice than to be somehow influenced by pop culture.”

You went on to show the collection at Belgrade Fashion Week, how was that for you?

This is my third time participating at BFW but my first time with my own solo show. It was amazing!!! Usually preparations on the day of the show are always very stressful and hectic but this time I had an amazing team of people (models, hair, makeup artists) who made everything run smoothly and without disturbance. Backstage was as big as it gets and that means a lot when there’s huge amount of people, under stress, running around at the same time in the same space. The space really is amazing.

You claim your work explores the spontaneous drive of creation, tell me a bit more about this as a design concept?

Spontaneous drive of creation implies to the importance of the design process that stands behind the finished product. This spontaneous way of creating allowed me to be more productive by deciding faster between the option 1,2 or 3, to experiment freely, and 68

Are you influenced by pop culture and in what way does it impact your design philosophy?

Living in the digital age of the 21st century, there’s no choice than to be somehow influenced by pop culture. At the same time, it is not obligatory to support it or like it. Considering that pop culture is the culture of the masses and includes less self-reflection, I would like to think that my design philosophy targets more niche, underground outlooks on life.

Let’s talk about that Trump Mask…it’s a statement piece. How did you come up with it’s creation as a garment and why?

During my master thesis, I was researching a lot about the performance of identities within the space. Categorizing “The Base” as a contemporary escape room where judgment, guilt and pressure does not exist, I was looking at creators of the space as muses and used their character and visual features to develop this collection. The Trump mask, in particular, attracted me because of his features that are nothing like Trump but still it is very obvious that it is him. As the theme has a strong connection to rave culture I was always intrigued by the way our perception and visual appearance changes throughout the night under influence of our behaviour. In the same way, this latex mask can change its facial expression due to the movement of the body.

Do you have a favourite piece from the collection?

My favourite piece would be the “Maha” jacket. It is the piece I spent the most time working on. The jacket itself is hand-made but includes laser cutting and latex bonding techniques. It took around 720 hours to make and required more then 15 000 metal rings to connect all the pattern pieces together!

Wow, that’s dedication! What motivates you then to stay focused as a young designer?

I think I am mostly motivated by the fact that being a designer is a never ending creative journey and the resources of inspiration are endless. I have a big imagination, in real life and while designing, numerous times I am motivated by surrealistic movement combining it with real life situations. Often these real life situations are inspired by the lives of my close family and friends, their successes, interests, loves, hates and lusts, alongside my own personal experiences, both positive and negative.

If you could dress one person in all the world, who would it be?

I think it would be John Galliano. It is not like he needs someone to dress him but it would be my ultimate dream.

Also, I would definitely not complain if Maison Margiela wanted to employ me at any point. .

Bodysuit by - Gala Borovic

In YOPO, how would you describe the fashion circuit/pool of designers in SEE? Since I live in the Netherlands I am paying quite a lot of attention to SEE designers. I think there’s a lot happening and the scene itself is growing as a platform. A lot of start-up small brands are opening their own businesses which makes me confident in doing something similar. I am always the most curious about students’ graduation and master collections as I am assuming they are the ones putting the most creativity into their projects since they aren’t necessarily influenced by the business side of fashion at this early stage.

What are your hopes for the future as a designer?

My current hopes and future plans are focused around me creating my own brand. My ambition is to continue learning and explore the business side more while staying true to my aesthetic.

I want to feel comfortable and confident with selling my designs and to always be able and have time to step back and reflect on my work as the designer!

What can we expect to see from you at London Fashion Week in September?

I am working on “The Base” extension.

I call this process #thebasecontinues.

Taking in consideration that artworks from atelier Base were of a very fluid character, always changing alongside the space and the people themselves. I won’t say more than this for now!

Finally, describe Gala Borovic as a designer in three words.

Chaotic, eclectic, grotesque and intense (four words sorry). @galaborovic

You know I like control, and you know how restless I get. Another part of the body that hurts and it will take to heal. Another time of my life where I have to be reminded of the little control I was actually given.

Inspiration in exchange of your time. A total failure.

In my language I inspire, foreign tongues and surroundings make less sense.

A one person conversation, years of acting the same way.

I am distracted, it would be nice to give attention to something, but what to?

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Travel far to find your imperfections.

The more music and water, the more I erase the perception. I am none’s fantasy.

Ceci n'est pasun poĂŠme Text and photos by Manuel Moncayo @manuelmoncayo.eu Model is Valentin Braun @aubergine.diaries All fashion by Julian Zigerli @julianzigerliofficial

1989, the stupidity of words, acne on your face, it surrounds me, a good track, the birthday of my dad, a ritual, the promise of a new rhythm, a new born, places that remain unchanged.

Dear Alan: I am in your hometown, the place where we met for the first and the last time, I drove a bike this morning downton to get my driver’s license and I imagined you as a child wandering the same streets even though I didn’t dare to step a foot near your neighbourhood (I don’t know why). Everything has it’s own rhythm here and not much has changed since the last time we've both been here together. I told my sister about you being light. You are everywhere, literally.

Let doubt enter your mind.

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No longer gone. I miss the man.

Will, To give thoughts a wording, with the box a meaning.

To accept what we consider foreign to ourselves as ourselves, deny it’s growth as a feeling.

To name the things we do not need to improve, be gentle.

To see things for what they are, there are also virtues.

To understand present times, less of that is on your mind.

To see myself to the face, recognise obsessions.

To be fluent with the heart, stop asking questions. to quote love, what a beautiful constellation.

About my body and my mood, the darker it gets the faster I move on.

Loveless, issues of emptiness and minimalism.

IN CONVERSATION WITH ELI

“Whenever I'm designing a piece, first I always come up with a story. Anything that I have been through personally, I just look into it and decide on a way to tell that story, and only then do I start looking at colour patterns.

I believe that colour is a language.”

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It’s so special to me when a professional encounter evolves into a genuine friendship. This is exactly what happened with Eli, the founder and the designer of the brand Masa Mara.

Not only is Eli passionate about clothes, but also about culture, and people. I think that’s where we clicked, our sociability created a great connection. His clothes tell a story about how it will feel to wear them all from the print that Eli’s designed for it. We caught up to talk patterns and process.

GOLD

How did you become a fashion designer?

My mom sells fabric and my grandfather was a tailor, so I kind of grew up around fabric. I used to dance and play music and whenever I had a performance I would always make my own costumes. I would sometimes wear some of these pieces to school and the other kids would always ask me where I got them. I had always been sketching and at some point, I started putting pieces together. I actually did my first collection of t-shirts in college to raise money. They sold so fast, we didn't even last a week!

So I made another collection and then another, but designing t-shirts forever didn't make a lot of sense to me so I started teaching myself to design and to sew. I got a sewing machine and I practised, practised! And before I knew it, I was putting collections together. When I started I had no idea what fashion was because where I'm from it was not a thing – until people started asking me questions about my costumes. Then I was like "what are

Interview by Nicolas Simoneau and Manuel Moncayo Photos by Johan Lygrell @johanlygrell, Make up by Elvira Brandt @byelvira Models are Olivier Ntumba @olivier_ntumba and Jasmine Staten @jamisnestaten

they seeing?" and that's when I made it a point to educate myself. Suddenly I realized that I was indeed a fashion designer!

What are you thinking about when you're creating clothes?

When I made the decision to go ahead and make my own pieces, I first looked around to see what was happening and who was doing what. Most people were making clothes but I wanted to make more than just clothes. Whenever I'm designing a piece, first I always come up with a story.

Anything that I have been through personally, I just look into it and decide on a way to tell that story, and only then do I start looking at colour patterns. I believe that colour is a language. I will see what colours speak to me more and start from there. I put the stories together, then I start designing, but the colours usually come last, I always see them in my head first. So the clothes really don't matter, what matters is the story. Once I have the story, I can work day and night.

Patterns, the rest, it always comes together. I like working that way.

What kind of stories?

For example, I did a piece about Third Culture Kids. These are kids who were born in one place but grew up in many different places, like me. People think that we are cultureless and have no roots but we're not, we're just different from them. With this piece I was trying to show people 75

that we are not lost, that we're actually more in tune with our world. If you believe in ancestors, which I do, I think you are more powerful. Living in South Africa for more than 12 years, it is now part of who I am, just like being from Rwanda. My ancestors will always be with me so you can't really say that I'm lost. That's what I'm trying to bring into my work.

Another piece I did was about the role played by religions, or how what we believe in influences who we become.

So there are, among other elements representing Islam or Catholicism, these masks that represent the African religions and the way Africans reveal themselves to their ancestors so that they can connect and bond with them. The model on the sketch, as much as you think that he's lost, he's also in touch with all these religions.

My pieces are a mix of all the different cultures and countries that have influenced me. Xhosa, Rwandan and there are many similarities within cultures that I use when I am making pieces. Like some elements from the Zulus, you can also find in Rwanda. I did a piece with a skateboarder.

There is a warrior stick, which bears a lot of meaning in African culture. Africans also believe that you can tap into the animal that you want to imitate through their skin so that's why I put Springbok skin on his sneakers, to give him lightness when he's skateboarding and moving around.

So your background really influences your work‌ Yes, big time. My clothing is "African cultural inspired".

So my pieces are inspired by all the cultures that I've come across. It doesn't have to be a direct influence, but it's still there. It can be shapes or colours. I never use anything as is, I always get inspired by something and then make it my own. If what I do doesn't speak to people right now, to our generation, then what's the point? I'm not making clothes for my ancestors!

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And you only do menswear?

My pieces are unisex. If I do a piece I will display it both on a male and a female model. I just want people to see that there are no real differences, it just depends on how you wear it. I'm my own model when it comes to the clothes that I create. I'm looking for fluidity. And I'm not necessarily very active so I wouldn't say that my clothes are "active" wear but when you wear my creations, I want you to feel free and to look active at all times. Shoes, on the other hand, are very tricky and expensive to make so I rarely work with shoes. But the one time that I did, it was for a very specific collection and I collaborated with a company in Tanzania that does recycling. We only made 6 sizes.

And how do you pick the colours, the material, the fabric?

Do you already know what you want when you start drawing?

It's all about the connection I have with the colours and how they make me feel. Once I start creating a piece, the colours tend to flow naturally. All my colours could be organic, although that would be expensive. I know how to make paint from mushrooms or charcoal. And I have used cow manure! In Africa, people use it to build houses among other things. I treat it before I use it to get rid of all the bacteria of course. I clean it with local materials and the mixture becomes hard like clay. Then I sand it and I can shape it and use it. In the end, it is just grass!

As for the fabric, African prints only come in cotton, so there isn't much to work with. But being surrounded by fabric when I was a kid, it made sense for me as a millennial to experiment with different types of fabric rather than copy how it was done in the past. I'm also learning about fabric technology so that I know how each type of fabric works and how to use it. If I try it and it feels good, then I make more.

And you create your own patterns? What's your process?

Yes, I do. Every print that we see is done by me. I work with one of my friends who is an illustrator to create the patterns on paper, then we print the first samples. I never know if I'm going to use the patterns that I make but when I'm selecting fabric for a t-shirt I need to know which one I'm gonna use: for example, it has to be breathable, to dry quickly. And different types of fabric will not react the same way to colour, some can take it, others can't. Like the more polyester you have, the more vibrant the colours can be. Or if I'm making jeans I have to do raw dying, no heat press. I need to know all of these things beforehand.

How's the feedback so far?

It's good! The thing is, what I'm doing takes time. When I started I would go to the market, buy trendy African prints, make clothes and make quick money. But at the end of the day, although I was making money, I was not building a brand, because the person coming after me would use the same fabrics I was using. I needed to educate people so that they could see that what I do feels different and that it is practical. So far the response has been great, things are definitely happening!

Do you think it is important to be socially engaged, like in the fight against climate change?

Yes, it is to me personally. I am my own brand so if something is important to me it has to be important to the brand. I'm aware that when I'm printing fabric I'm having a negative impact on the climate so it is my role to do whatever I can to restore the balance. Awareness is important.

What does the name of your brand "Masa Mara" mean?

It comes from a Rwandan proverb that means a lot to me.

During the kings time, people would come and bring things to show gratitude to the King. If you had nothing to bring, showing up was enough even though you were "coming emptyhanded", that's the meaning behind the name "Masa Mara".

It represents the bravery, the fact that you can stand up for the things that you believe in. @masamara_

Baby‘s

on fire

Concept and photography by Suzana Holtgrave @suzyloveheart Styling and Set Design by Sarah Müller @muellersarah.de Hair and Make-up by Claudia Fischer @claudiafischermakeup Model is Lika @likarigvava from TFM Model Management 78

Earring and bracelet - MAWI

Earring and ring - Diederick van Hovell Seen at Schmucke Berlin

Earring and ring - UTOPIC Seen at STUDIO183 Berlin

Brooch - Karin Maisch Seen at Schmucke Berlin

Earrings - Sabrina Dehoff Dress - ROQA

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BERLIN

FW19 available from July 15th pinqponq.com • @pinqponq