ISSUE II
Front Page
The function of the creative artist consists of making laws, not in following laws already made. Ferruccio Busoni
Southern Pulse Magazine Issue II
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Southern Pulse Magazine Tel: +27 21 836 6664 Cell: +27 79 984 4007 southernpulse@webmail.co.za Managing Director: Jongisizwe Ntshuntshe Created by: Jongisizwe Ntshuntshe Bandile Nombutuma Contributors: Sipho Mmatema Phumela Msolo Published by: The Mgwevu Group Fourth Wall Media Photograph credits: Salym Fayad, Rowan@makhulu, Brett Rubin, Robert Adam Mayer, Rowan Pybus, Sera Di Blasio, Ryan J Abella, Gary San Angel, Alica Dorsey. All other contributors used accidentally or intentionally but omitted to give credit. Disclaimer: The publishers and editors of Southern Pulse Magazine regret that they cannot accept liabilities for errors or omissions contained in this publication or any inclusions, inserts or cover mounted additions however caused. The opinions, views, and other material contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission.
IN THIS ISSUE Pg.10 Pg.18 Pg.26 Pg.36 Pg.50 Pg.58 Pg.64 Pg.70 Pg.84 Pg.92 Pg.100 Pg.104 Pg.112
Ian Gabriel The Floacist Khaya Witbooi Imperial Tiger Orchestra Yellow Rage ORDA Gina Loring Ralph Ziman Skyzoo FALKO Nakhane TourĂŠ Fana Tshabalala Bongiwe Walaza
Welcome to Southern Pulse Magazine
I wish I could say “Hey Y’all!” in that annoying nasal tone that socialites like so much. Oh, while we on that, “socialite” is not an occupation or vocation. Actually, a “socialite” is nothing but a glorified s’khothane minus the Ultra Mel. But to each sheeple his own. Since our last issue dropped we lost some great artists in the world, but they are now making art with the greatest artist of all – The Creator. A lot has happened while putting THIS issue together - lots of great moments, lots of blows, more stops than starts, but we swam right through the BS to bring you nothing but the best in the creative world. On to the business at hand. In this issue we bring you Falko, The Floacist, Kilmany Jo, Skyzoo, and many more. Before this starts sounding like an editor’s note, from some unknown editor, who thinks they deserve to speak first because they fixed a typo or two (with auto-correct) and then inserted a selfie(sh), I’ll stop. Enjoy the issue.
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IAN GABRIEL
Ian Gabriel is a South African film and commercials director. You might have seen his latest film “Four Corners” at cinemas recently. We caught up with him at his office to talk about his career and motion pictures. Tell us about yourself. I’m originally from Durban but I actually grew up in Jo’burg. I went to Wits University for a while and then I taught in Swaziland. While teaching there I found out about the Dorce House Theatre which was a multiracial theatre. At the time they had a show which had just collapsed and left a lot of actors out of work. A friend of mine asked me to come in and work with those actors and develop theatre shows. We managed to get a few shows going and took one of them to schools in Soweto. I stayed in theatre and film, and to this day, I’m still inspired by actors.
You’ve won a few awards for the commercials you’ve directed. Which is your favourite – Film or Commercials? The commercials industry is my bread and butter. We like a bit of butter on our bread. *Laughs* I use some of the money I get from doing commercials to fund some of my film projects. But I value them both. I like filmmaking and performance. So to me, a 30 second commercial is still a story. You can explore character and create intrigue for the audience. The films you’ve made, “Forgiveness” and “Four Corners” carry a theme of family and redemption. Is that a theme you explore consciously? It’s a theme I’m very interested in. Family is a human need the same as food or water is. It doesn’t even need to be a biological family; it could be close friends or something like that. It’s a theme that I wanted to talk about in both those films. My next film is about brotherhood. It’s a very different story but I’m still digging deeper into that theme.
In your pre-production for “Four Corners” you went into the heart of “gangland” as some would put it. What was your experience? Every week in Cape Town there is an article on gang violence. It seemed very important to go and find out more about that and also why it was happening. The “gangland” is an area that shifts all the time. Sometimes you think you are not in one but you actually are. I found out that the number gang was giving people what society should have been giving. Identity, safety, and family. In the poor areas, especially in mixed-race communities, people have an uncertainty about their identity. Most people have tagged “Four Corners” as a movie about violence and gangsters. Is that a narrow view? Definitely. Yes it is about violence, yes it is about gangs, but it’s also about breaking away from violence. It’s a story of a man who wants to step away from violence. And the fact that he does creates a better world for his son. It’s funny that South Africans don’t want to see heavy violence in a South African film but have no problem watching it over and over in a foreign picture. Those same people are worried about social issues in their immediate environment. We made the film truthfully because a lot of South African films have been fake.
You’ve just told us that in your opinion a lot of our films are fake. Which local film has impressed you? A local movie…? That’s a difficult one. I’ll go abroad while I think about the South African one. *Laughs* The movie “American Hustle” impressed me. It’s an entertaining film and it’s based on a true story. It has a strong link to reality and I enjoyed that. South African? District 9. On one hand it is a science fiction and has humour, and on the other hand it is a very true reflection of South African society. There’s this foreign movie stars in South African films debate. And the claim is, the movie will be a success… The movie will have higher chances of earning money outside of the country. A successful movie is not about an opinion. It’s basically about how much did it cost to make and how much did it earn. Did you make your money back? The more expensive your film is, then you need that foreign star to try and make your money back by getting audiences to watch it. But it’s a great pity that we can’t use South Africans in those roles.
Local films tend to use the same people over and over again. Does that help or hurt the industry? There’s no growth with that. We are now creating superstars in an industry that doesn’t have superstar status yet. We need to bring in new actors. Growing the talent pool will benefit us all. Currently there’s such a desire for celebrity to the point where the delicacies of performances get forgotten. Actors are more concerned about being on the front page than they are about their craft. That’s a big problem. Our films do badly at the box office… The problem we have is that our cinema going audience is very small. I was at a film festival in Iran a few years ago and they told me that they sold 189 million tickets in that year. Compare that to South Africa where we only sell about 11 million tickets a year. Ticket prices are very high here and sometimes people have to drive for 30 minutes just to get to a cinema. We’ve failed the people by not bringing cinemas closer to the audience. A lot of the “straight out of AFDA” types think they can just pick up a camera and call themselves directors... There are a lot more directors now without experience. If I work on a movie and not learn something new then something is wrong. I carry on working just to learn. If you come in and think you know everything then you’ve lost half the battle. It’s through learning that things become interesting. The film schools are to blame a bit because a lot of people go there to learn directing. That encourages people to look for the ‘nice’ title instead of getting them to understand film.
Lastly, are you working on anything new at the moment? We are working on story that takes place in the 1960’s. It’s the film about brotherhood that I mentioned earlier. It’s a big picture because it has both a South African element and an international thread in the story. I’m chatting to some foreign and local producers about it. Ill release more details when the project gets green lit.
THE FLOACIST Natalie Stewart
We had a chat with Natalie Stewart better known as “The Floacist.” She was half of the group “Floetry” which had a run spanning over 7 years and was one of the UK’s most successful exports. We conversed with the spoken word artist about life, music, poetry, and spirituality.
You were born in Germany, lived in Hong Kong for a while before moving to London. Your family moved a lot. We’re nomadic. Since we were taken from home we just keep on moving. My parents are Jamaican born and I’m the youngest of three. My sister and I were born in Germany but I was in Germany for two weeks and then we came to England. We then went to Hong Kong which is where I started school. We moved back to London when I was seven. My parents got divorced and we settled in London with the rest of the divorced families. *Laughs* What’s your fondest childhood memory? I’m blessed to say I have so many. But, experiencing Chinese culture and Chinese New Year was great. Those were the fantastic beginnings of my spirit. And also learning to swim in Hong Kong because it was so hot you had to swim. The food and the culture were awesome.
How did you get into poetry? The first vocation I ever claimed was that of being a writer. I then studied performing arts and honed-in on my skill. After the performing arts school, I was invited to a poetry gig. I had been writing poems anyway so it was not a case of me prostituting myself. When I look at it in hindsight I can see how I was being aligned to my journey. Can you give us your definition of a spoken word artist? It’s the ability to evoke something in people with words. I don’t think poets should just say words that send people home without a resolution to something. They should not talk about ideologies but should bring solutions. Some of my favourite poets are people like my grandmother, and my aunt Olga. A spoken word artist is someone who submits to the craft and lets the messages come through. You went underground for a while after Floetry. Is going solo a way to re-acquaint yourself with Natalie? I didn’t go solo. I was made solo. By that I mean I was forced to go solo. I constructed “Floetry” to show the solidarity of women which looking at it now sounds ironic. In terms of going underground, I had to collect myself. I don’t know if I was underground or between grounds. I just know that I was trying to collect myself. I had to accept the fact that “Floetry” was being broken up by something that was so cliché. But yeah, when I went solo I had to re-group. I love collaborating with other people though.
Neo-soul kind of died. Are you trying to usher that genre back in again? When I first heard that we were neo-soul I was like “huh?” What I was creating was a genre called “Floetry” which was poetry with musical intent. I did come to understand the neo-soul movement and understood that it was a positive idea but unfortunately the people who gave the most to neo-soul are the people who shut it down. I’m not championing neo-soul; I champion “Floetry” which is poetry with musical intent. But I’d love for neo-soul to come back.
You did a song on “Floetry Rebirth” with Thandiswa Mazwai - “Roots Of Love.” That song is a diamond tell us about that record. I met Thandiswa in 2006 when I was in South Africa with Marsha Ambrosius. We were there as “Floetry” but at that time I knew that “Floetry” was over because Marsha had just signed a solo deal with Aftermath but word wasn’t out yet. I met Thandiswa briefly and then some years later Pinkie Mseleku, who is related to Bheki Mseleku was sharing some music with me and she played me “Ingoma” by Thandiswa. I was like “I’ve met her!” It just so happened that Thandiswa was here in London at the time. I went to her show and we reconnected. She’s one of my all-time favourite artists. Let’s talk about your latest offering - Rise Of The Phoenix Mermaid. Rise Of The Phoenix Mermaid is an album that I’ve made in submission to me being a solo recording artist. For the first time I went to the studio knowing exactly which songs would be on the record and also the order the album would be recorded in. I recorded 13 songs and the album also contains songs that I had written for Floetry in 2007 but never recorded. I don’t like hanging out in studios but I had a beautiful time recording this album. The title came to me long before I thought about the album. The title reflects the space I was in. The fire of the Phoenix represents the baptism of fire that we get in life. The water of the mermaid represents where we come from in the sense that we came from the ocean before we walked on land or if you will, it represents the ether, the source. It’s about alignment.
Your journey in the music industry has had its ups and downs. What keeps you going? I was just saying yesterday that I don’t even know if I’m going or not. I say that because I don’t have the same drive I had when I was 21. Right now I’m just appreciating the things are happening in my life. I feel like I’m in my own lane and I love my lane. These days I’m not so worried about selling out shows. The people who come to my shows have made a conscious decision to come to the show. What keeps me going? To be honest with you, it’s my family. It’s knowing how amazing my ancestors were. They experienced worse than me and survived. I don’t think I’ve done what I’m here to do. And that has nothing to do with album sales but has to do with the emancipation of my soul. That’s why the music industry cannot stop me from doing what I’m doing. The industry is not a machine, the industry is people and they cannot stop what’s inside me from pouring out.
You’re walking your own path. Does that make things tougher for you as an artist? I sleep well at night. The mainstream route would be harder for me. I can’t sell poison to children just so I can pay the bills. I know what you mean by your question though, so I’m sure there are areas where it does make it harder for me, but it’s easier for me to do what I do. I’m a poet so I don’t have ideas about how many people should be listening. I don’t think there are many artists in the industry right now anyway. I think there is an industry and job openings. So, these so called “artists” line up for the jobs to sell poison. A true artists is innately the polar opposite of the music we’re being sold. You know there are no artists when there’s so much happening in the world and no artist is talking or making music about it. Lastly, if you could change one thing in the world, what would that be? Bob Marley would’ve never died. By “Bob Marley” I mean what he brought to the world and the content in his music. If you look at black music now, it’s poison. I think if Bob’s type of music was still being made then things would be better. But at the same time, I think things are exactly how they are supposed to be. Everything is how it is because of the things that came before it. There are so many things that should have been changed. There are people who were colonisers and families that got rich off the slave trade and they are still allowed to be rich and keep that money. That’s wrong. But like that slave trade etc. this new machine too will break. And I look forward to these unattainable ideas collapsing.
KHAYA
WITBOOI
Khayalethu Witbooi was born in Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape province – South Africa. He worked as a cartoonist for the Cape Argus and as an illustrator for an architectural firm before painting full time. We caught up with him at Greatmore Studios for an interesting chat about art and everything else.
You hate it when people call your work “collage art” – how do you define your style? “Collage” suggests cut and paste. You find images and just cut and paste them together to create another image. What I do looks like a collage but it’s not. I paint and stencil my work from scratch. My work is a reflection of urban spaces. It’s like a wall where paint is peeling off and then on that wall you have some graffiti, and all these stickers, torn abortion posters - and that is nature. That’s how things are in the real world. So my work is a reflection of that. I call my work Urban Art. What do you do to get in work-mode? Depending on the mood I want to create - there’s a mood for painting and there’s a mood for stencilling. Stencilling is fast paced so when I do that I’ll play heavy hip hop. My art is mainly designed to be exhibited indoors but I use the music to draw energy from the streets. Painting on the other hand takes patience. I’m a perfectionist so I need to create the mood and rely on the mood to carry me through to a finished product.
Tell us about your journey into art. I started off as a freelance cartoonist for the Cape Argus newspaper, and did some work in an architecture firm. I reached a stage where I felt there’s nothing I could not learn and so I looked at art and thought to put my energy into that. I used my experience from the other disciplines to create my own identity. My brother worked for the architectural firm that worked on the construction of the Century City Mall and I worked in their graphics studio. When the recession hit I became a luxury for the company and so I left in ‘09. I stayed in Pretoria for a while and then came back to Cape Town and decided to do art. Art was always there, it was me, and not an interest I “developed.”
In South Africa art is still not seen as something that you can do for a living. When you started, did you get a lot of support? Not really. But I wasn’t looking for support. The art journey was my own venture. I wasn’t going around telling people but at the same time I felt stuck with the other jobs I was doing. They weren’t taking me to the next level. So I ventured into painting etc. What was the first thing you’ve ever created, do you remember? Geez! Uhm… I remember in school I used to trace the images in history textbooks and stuff like that. I got into trouble when a fellow pupil reported me to the teacher saying that I don’t listen in class I just trace the images in the books. I got a beating for that. *Laughs* They didn’t see that this was just a natural thing in me. My Afrikaans teacher saw that I listen better when I’m not “paying attention” and she started to tell the other teachers to not see me as a problem child.
The first painting you sold; you took it to Charl at WorldArt to have him critique the piece. He put it up on the wall and it was sold for R12 000 an hour later. Would you call that the beginning of your career as a painter? I did that painting in two weeks but it was part of a six month journey of growth. When you approach a new environment you seek approval. You want to speak the same ‘language’ as the other people. You want people to say “actually you can do better than this.” In the beginning my work was a certain style but I started adding a few things to make my work better. When Charl saw that one he could see how I had grown. He was impressed with it. That was not my first piece but was a result of effort over time.
A while ago people said your work was political and was about revolutionaries. But you have an interesting definition of what a revolutionary is… There are people out there that are doing something to change their living situation for the better. For example, your next door neighbour buys a lawnmower and then he starts cutting grass for money, and a few months later he now has a bakkie and five lawnmowers, and has also hired people to work for him. It would be a shame to not acknowledge those people. They are people who through trying to better themselves show me that we live in a world of possibilities. To me those people are revolutionaries. I relate to those people. They live on my street and are changing things. I can’t relate to someone I’ve never met but have only seen in the media. I relate to people that I see daily. A revolutionary is a person who works hard to feed his family and does not beg at the robot.
What are you working on at the moment? I’m working on 6 pieces for the Jo’burg Art Fare in July. It’s actually a very cool project. I’m using stencilling to create works that are easy on the eye but carry a deep message.
What makes you wake up in the morning and keep going? I don’t want to wake up in the morning. *Laughs* I don’t want to do it because of the pressure of knowing I have to create something. I sometimes don’t want to finish what I’m working on now because that means I have to think of something else. This job is not a like a nine to five job. You do a show and then people look at you and go “What now? What are you going to do next?” But I’ve always said to myself that if something is easy then something will come and balance that out. But God has put art in me. So as much as art comes easy to me I constantly want to get better because I owe it to Him who put it there. I’m fortunate. I’m doing what I love. A lot of people out there are stuck in shitty jobs that they hate. To try and answer you, creativity wakes me up.
Do you feel like as an artist and all artists just have to keep giving and giving but the people don’t give back? There is a degree of “give and take” between the artist and the audience but sometimes it feels like to give is all that is expected of you. It’s like you are just expected to produce and produce and the work you produce is expected to be of a certain standard. And then there are things you can say and there are things you can’t say. You can be appreciated today and hated tomorrow if you make those statements. When I create a piece I get nervous because I have to justify it, explain what it means, and hope that the definition is acceptable. Why can’t I just make something and leave it at that? I know who I am and I actually don’t want anyone to approve of me. So yeah, sometimes it feels like you give more and more and it never comes to a point of “that’s enough.” Lastly, just for fun, have you ever watched someone buy a piece of art and thought that they had just bought shit? When they bought my work! *Laughs* But to a certain degree I would rather be uncomfortable with a piece and not think that everything I create is great. Sometimes I look at some pieces and think to myself “that one is shit.” Amazingly though, people will see something else in the one piece you are uncomfortable with and they’ll buy it. I guess one never really knows what the next person will find attractive..
Nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful people with talent, leave the house before you find something worth staying in for. Banksy
THE TIGERS
The Swiss band Imperial Tiger Orchestra toured Southern Africa recently. They performed in South Africa, Botswana, and Swaziland. The Tigers shared the stage with the likes of Oliver Mtukudzi, Mayra Andrade, Lady Smith Black Mambazo, and Ntombe Thongo. We reached out to band leader RaphaĂŤl Anker to talk music, Wax, and South Africa.
Imperial Tiger Orchestra is a 5 piece band based in Geneva Switzerland. We play modern Ethiopian music. In the band we have guys that play different instruments like the trumpet, electronic trumpet, keyboards, bass, guitar, percussion and drums. Our set would also have dancers and sometimes a vocalist.
www.imperialtigerorchestra.ch
“Imperial Tiger Orchestra” - where does the name come from? The name is an allusion to the Imperial Bodyguard Band which was the official band for Emperor Haile Selassie. And then there's a play on the “Lion of Judah” motif which is the national symbol of Ethiopia. As you know, we are not all from Ethiopia, so I decided to change the symbol of the lion and replace it with the tiger - because we too can be wild!
Let’s talk about your music, how would you define your sound? Our music draws on the traditional music of Ethiopia. We draw from the different ethnical groups of Ethiopia like the Guragigna, Oromigna, Tigrinya, Konso etc.
What made Ethiopian music attractive to you? Ethiopian music has scales that you don’t find in other kinds of music. It is really deep but can also be joyful. In the beginning, we were interested in a scale called “anchi hoye” which feels very dark, but is often played at weddings. The contrast between the dark sounds of this genre, the heavy beat, and the fact that it seemed out of place for a wedding intrigued us. Once you listen to it, you fall in love with it.
Are you looking at exploring music from other countries in the future? To some degree we already have. We have two tunes from Sudan in our latest album. Another thing is; touring in other African countries actually influences our approach to the music we play. But our main genre is Ethiopian music.
What’s the weirdest thing a fan has ever done while you were on stage? Nothing hectic but one incident comes to mind. It was on our first tour in France. We played one intense tune with a strong beat and a free jazz sax solo. Some guys in the crowd got really aggressive with the band - shouting and fighting among themselves. We just continued playing. They stopped eventually. I think…?
There are 6 of you in the band, how does your creative process work? Well, normally one of the guys will come with a tune that he loves. We’ll listen to it and then try to play it. Once that’s done we’ll choose a direction we want to take with the tune. We’ll fine tune the rhythm, melody, and work on the sound until we are happy. This all sounds simple but it can take weeks to complete the process.
Your album “Wax” – how different is it from your first two albums? This album is different from the other two for many reasons. On this album we’ve broadened the sound. We explore different beats from Ethiopia. These are beats that come from different ethnic groups, and then we have the two tunes from Sudan that I mentioned earlier. There’s also less “free jazz” choruses which we had a lot of in the first album. Initially, the album’s reception was not so great. People didn’t understand it because the European scene is focused on what they call “Ethio-Jazz” and so they were a bit lost with this one. But after several months of touring, people love it.
You have been in South Africa for a week or so, what do you think of the country? South Africa is an incredible country. It’s full of culture and contradictions. This is our second time here so we went a bit deeper this time. I really love Ntombe Thongo’s music. I’m also really impressed by Johannesburg. We were also astonished by the Cape Flats, which change from how the centre of Cape Town is. In fact, I love the country and its power of attraction compared to other African countries. South Africa is a country trying to write her story again. We met wonderful people and we would’ve loved to stay longer.
You did a workshop in Khayelitsha, what was that about? It was about meeting people from Khayelitsha and just sharing music together. It was great! We played Ethiopian music, and the choir from Khayelitsha began singing Johan Sebastian Bach. After that, it was really fun. Khayelitsha also gave us a better understanding of the situation in Cape Town.
ART LIGHTS UP A LIFE
I don’t like people that brag about iKasi as if living there was a personal choice they made. When will we brag about getting out of that situation? I don’t like unstable DSTV dishes hanging off shacks when the people that live there can’t send their kids to school because yes, they claim they have no money. And I hate people thinking that having that unstable dish shit is cool. Oh the irony in the names of our townships. Monwabisi Park on the outskirts Cape Town is an example. I’ll break it down for you. It’s not a park! You won’t find people walking their dogs or having picnics there.“Monwabisi” means “bringer of joy” but there is no joy there. Just communal taps with no streetlights and that creates a situation where going for water after sunset could be the last trip you make.
For the residents of Monwabisi Park, their only access to free clean water is through communal taps. This is so “normal” now that daily routines around necessary trips to the nearest tap have become part of life. However, these spaces and the adjoining pathways have also become hunting grounds for criminals. These paths are not lit up at night. Now, regardless of which city or township you’re from, you know that light = safety. People in Monwabisi Park have been murdered, raped, or robbed when going to get water at night. Artist Faith 47 and Lyall Sprong from Thingking decided that something had to be done. Together with other collaborators they started the “AnotherLightUp Project.” The project aims to raise funds to have streetlights put up and the communal taps in Monwabisi revamped through art. For the project, well-known street artist Faith 47 painted a mural titled “The Harvest” which is located in District Six next to De Waal Drive in Cape Town.“The concept was to use a space to represent another space but with the intention of actually having an impact on people’s lives in the space being represented” says Lyall about the project. This project aims to raise funds for streetlights to light up a 700m pathway between public taps and other better lit areas. Faith47 chose an image that represents the feminine spirit which is nurturing and life giving, bearing crops – a symbol of fertility and abundance. The background of the mural is subtly adorned with sacred geometry. Thingking helped with project development and technical elements. Design Indaba Trust assisted with management, marketing, and funded the mural.
There are lights that form a pattern on the mural, and every time a donation is made and enough funds have been acquired to put up a streetlight, the mural symbolically lights up for that evening. Each street lamp costs about R7000 to put up in Monwabisi and people can make donations from as little as R100. “We need just over R300 000 for the project to be a success and every little bit helps someone less privileged than we are� Lyall concluded.
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WHITE SPACE
Founded by Michelle Myers and Catzie Vilayphonh, Yellow Rage is a dynamic spoken word duo of Asian-American female poets from Philadelphia. “There were three of us when we formed the group in 2000. Sapna Shah, the third poet, moved on to study medicine. “Yellow” is a term that has been used to describe Asian skin color, which neither of us accept, so we took that to color our anger” says Catzie about the group’s name and origins.
If you’ve been into poetry for a while then you might have caught the duo on the HBO series “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry” – that was when the duo first gained serious attention. It’s been 14 years now and Yellow Rage continues to make a positive impact through their poetry. Catzie and Michelle draw from their own unique experiences, individual political ideologies, and personal life philosophies as Asian-American women. The duo further explores a range of issues such as human trafficking, sexual slavery, modern-day slavery; crosscultural conflict; cultural commoditization; and self-identity.
“I regard our poetry as authentic, honest, and direct. Some people call our poetry “in-your-face” and “fierce” but I don’t think either one of those represent our intent. We don’t write or perform to appear fierce. Our poetry is very diverse in content and style.” - Michelle. Some, but not all of their themes as solo performers overlap with those they tackle as a group. “I like writing funny poems, but many of mine are a personal narrative, so I have a few that are based on my identity as a daughter of Lao refugees” was Catzie’s response when we asked about their individual works. At the heart of Yellow Rage's poetry is a desire to present a perspective that challenges ignorance, hatred, and discrimination. Through anger, pain, joy, celebration, sarcasm, and humor, Catzie and Michelle strive to facilitate an honest dialogue through their poetry and hope to move themselves and others forward. In their works they employ multiple poetic forms and delivery styles including hip hop influenced rhyme, character depictions, theatrical monologues, song, and free verse. The duo believes in using their work as a way to empower women and give them the strength to be un-afraid to speak up.
“When people label us as “angry” just from seeing the Def Poetry piece titled “Listen Asshole” on You Tube, I get very annoyed. It clearly shows not only how closed-minded and judgemental they are, but also that they have not done research about us and our work.” says Michelle about the perception of the group.
The two poets continue working with teenagers and troubled communities. Michelle teaches at a community college in Philadelphia, and the profits from her book “The SHE Book” have been going to NGO’s that fight human trafficking. Catzie is involved in a project called Laos in the House, which is a community arts event that will take place in Philadelphia in spring 2015. The project celebrates the story of the Lao American diaspora through art works and also presents the opportunity for community members to tell their own stories.
[We asked Michelle to give us her favourite lines from their body of work. The verse is part of a poem that was a response to people who said “Yellow Rage” were trying to act too “black” or too “white”- essentially saying they were not “Asian” enough.]
C
on
ne w ct w Tw w w itt .y ith e er l Ye C : M low llo at ic ra h w z ie e g e Ra (@ lle .c ge o C an m az d @ tu Ca el tz l a ie ) (y el lo w -ra
ge
)
So, yeah, I’m mixed— Mixed and confused Why you would ask me such a stupid-ass question? And don’t tell me not to be pissed! Spend a day in my skin to be accosted with “Are you that?” and “Are you this?” And you’ll be ready to say with me “Yeah, I’m mixed — I’m half woman and half BITCH!”
By various local and international artists
...67min, now live it.
THE
ORDA
OF THINGS
Her work has been labelled as “street, sophisticated, and hangable.” She sees it as “fine art experimenting with popular styles of painting, specifically graffiti.” Kilmany-Jo Liversage a.k.a Orda is a full time artist working from East Side studios in Woodstock. After finishing her B Tech in fine art in the Free State in ‘97 she came to Cape Town in search of greener pastures. “I was an art teacher for 8 years and pursued a career as a full-time artist 5 years ago” she says about her beginnings in fine art. Her work is incredibly artistic and skilfully executed. Kilmany-Jo blends graffiti with classic portraiture to create edgy and sophisticated artworks. She draws her inspiration from street art, mass media, and images in social media. Her use of spray paint and acrylic paint combined with the paint-drip effect adds character to her work. Her pieces have an array of vivid colours and she has often been told that the vibrancy of the colours is inspiring. Kilmany-Jo discovered various forms of art during a residency in South America. While she was there she got introduced to street art and took a liking to it. She says she enjoys the public element of street art and the idea that everyone is able to see it. Her last public works were at the Venice Biennale in 2013 where she worked on a street art project, and those were followed by two murals in Washington. Having worked in various countries all over the world, her art has become quite universal. Kilmany-Jo also points out that her work seems to be most popular in European countries, and believes the reason to be that Europe has a long standing tradition of art collection.
A lot of her works are either portraits of women or carry feminine features. “The female superhero is a playful take on my alter ego; I envision her to be a culmination of all the things I want to be – a little playful, naughty, and perhaps even daring. She is an example of inner strengths and outer strengths” says Kilmany-Jo when we asked about the recurring theme. Currently, she is working on a new body of work for her exhibition “Observa714.” “It’s a series of portrait paintings exploring the intersection of fine art and street art by adopting idiosyncrasies from the urban culture of tagging and combining them with the painting tradition of portraiture” she says.
Parting word to aspiring artists:
“
Success is the combination of a number of elements including talent but also a good business head, hard work, and perseverance. Work hard, take rejection well, and find your signature.
”
www. kilmanyjo.com | Kilmany-Jo Liversage on Facebook. ‘cheeky’
Kilmany-Jo Liversage
MORE WHITE SPACE
GINA
LORING
She has done numerous TV appearances as a spoken word artist. She performed in places like Russia, West Africa, Spain, France and many more. But she is not just a poet; she is also a songwriter and singer with a voice redolent of Amel Larrieux. Her name is Gina Loring, and this is what she had to say:
You are a poet, vocalist, songwriter, teacher, and more. Which one has your heart? I’ve been singing since I could talk. I was always making up songs and singing in the mirror pretending to be Donna Summer or Whitney Houston. The fact that I am now a singer/ songwriter is a wonderful illustration of how we inherently know who we are on some level. It also shows how important it is to pay attention to that natural gift and honour it. Music and poetry serve as therapeutic tools for me. I am a believer that artists are vessels and the work comes through us, but not from us. What inspires you? I am most inspired by people who endured tremendous challenges but ultimately had profound impacts on the world through their art. These are people like Billie Holiday, Frida Kahlo, Nina Simone, and others. These women not only survived heartache, abuse, and tragedy, but were able to channel it into their work.
What do you write about mostly? My music and poems are a narrative of my life experiences. Whatever I am feeling or processing is what shows up in my work. I’ve written about love, family, heartache, racism, sexism - whatever is seeking to be voiced at that time. I think the most important thing is to write from a genuine place. Artists are often the truth tellers. They are the few brave souls willing to say out loud what others may not. I’ve always been relatively bold and never really held my tongue much. My work is no different.
You believe that if an artist has an audience, he/she should use that platform to do something with meaning. Do you think popular-culture artists contribute to the death of consciousness? Popular culture is largely dictated by an agenda that has little to do with art, integrity, or genuine self-expression. There are a handful of corporations funding and green lighting what we are exposed to in mass media. Most of what we have access to is controlled - from music to sports to social media, film and television. That’s why it is imperative to be an Independent thinker. There are some wonderful artists out there who make meaningful, thoughtful, and powerful work. It is up to us to support them and strengthen ourselves.
What community-work are you involved with at the moment? I have worked with an organization called Inside Out Writers (insideoutwriters.org) for several years - teaching creative writing workshops to teens in prison. Working with incarcerated youths is something near to my heart. Poetry was, in many ways, a saving grace for me during my teenage years. It gave me a place to express a lot of what I was going through internally. If I can help even one young person find healing and self-empowerment through writing then I’ve done my job. I think when artists become really successful it’s easy to lose sight of certain things. No matter how successful I become I don’t want to ever forget that there are millions of kids being herded from the hood to jail cells, back to the hood, and right back to jail.
Lastly, who is the one person that keeps you from saying “Ah screw it. I give up”? That is a great question. It’s not always easy to stay focused and positive in the face of the frustration. However, I am a firm believer that as long as we are still breathing, we have the opportunity to be proactive and be a beneficial presence on the planet. My tenacity comes from an understanding that I am here for a reason, and music and poetry are what I have been designated to do. It’s not a person who keeps me from giving up - it’s God. Connect with Gina @ www.ginaloring.com
Ralph Ziman is South African screenwriter and director based in Los Angeles. He has over 6 feature films under his belt and is known in South Africa for his film Jerusalema. Ralph has also directed music videos for people like Toni Braxton, Micheal Jackson, Rod Stewart, and many more. Recently, he has been getting his feet wet in the public art space. He collaborated with Zimbabwean street vendors in Jo’burg to create the series titled “Ghosts.” “Ghosts” is an eye catching photo-series where the street vendors pose with beaded AK- 47 replicas. The exhibition debuted at C.A.V.E Gallery, Venice in February 2014, and locally (South Africa) at the MUTI Gallery in July 2014. Ralph opened up to us about the project, and his career.
You’ve done a number of films, directed over 400 music videos, and are now venturing into public art. Where did it all start? It’s started in SA at the SABC. I worked there as a news cameraman in 1981 and I did that for about 18 months. To avoid doing military service in the 80’s I moved to England. When I moved to England in the early 80’s the film industry was very unionised at the time and the only unregulated part was music videos. I got a job doing music videos and worked on a lot of them over the years. So basically, that’s how it all started.
Public Art is not something you are known for, how did that come about? I have always done art. I started painting as a child and loved it. When I was about 14 years old I started taking photographs. I had access to a dark room and I would develop the photos. So it’s really something I have always done but because I’ve worked so much in the film industry, the art projects were always something I did to let off steam. I got into this “Ghosts” project very slowly and it just kept growing. I am friends with a lot of street artists in America and I watched them and liked what they were doing. I thought I should give it a shot. It’s kind of like the creative freedom we had in the 80’s and 90’s making music videos before it became too commercialised. Street art is great and has made art accessible to a lot of people just like music used to be. Rock ‘n roll came along and took the stuffiness out of music. People who didn’t understand Beethoven could listen to rock music on the radio. I think street art is the same and it’s very immediate. People walk past, they like it, they take a photo, and they put it on Instagram. People don’t feel like they have to know a lot to be able to appreciate it.
Before Ghosts, did you work on any other art projects? I’ve done painting but never shown it to anyone. “Ghosts” is is my first foray into street and fine art with regards to getting into galleries and having exhibitions. This is something new for me.
What was the inspiration behind the project? It was the fascination with the culture of guns in South Africa, particularly in Johannesburg. I’ve often wondered about it because there seems to be guns everywhere. When I was doing research for Jerusalema I would go out and ride around with the police and there wasn’t a Friday or Saturday night where we didn’t come upon a shoot-out or an aftermath of a shootout. I just wondered where all the guns were coming from and how they made their way into South Africa and Africa. No matter where you are in Africa there seems to be rebels or whatever. I asked these Zimbabwean guys who make wild animals out of wire to make me an AK-47 out of wire and beads and they thought it was hilarious. After they had made the first one it just engulfed my imagination. I thought it would be great if we could manufacture a few hundred in South Africa and take them to the West. We started with one or two guns and in the end we had about two hundred AK-47’s and thousands of rounds of ammunition. The idea was to reverse the arms trade in a way, and have people think or ask about the arms trade and the guns that end up in the wrong hands. Somewhere along the line I thought to do a photo shoot in downtown Johannesburg and photograph the guys who made the guns posing with them. I thought it was a cool project because it would provide jobs for a few guys in South Africa even if it was on a small scale. The profits from my shows go to non-profits that deal with human rights or arms control. We have donated about R300 000 to charities so far.
How has it been received? I think a lot of people get it. The exhibition in the US did really well and we got really good press from the BBC. The Huffington Post also covered it and seemed to get it. I know some people would take exception to parts of it, but I think art is controversial and it’s supposed to make people think. Not everybody gets it or likes it but overall people responded well to it.
To conclude, in one online interview an interesting quote from you was ‘If you love something, you will never make it better’what did you mean? When you make something you’re always critical and looking for ways to make it better. Even now, I’ll put up a print or something and I’ll think I could have done it better. I see mistakes or wish I’d done it differently. I think if you are creative you’re always subtly critical and that’s good because you shouldn’t feel too smug or self-satisfied. You always have to be looking for ways to do what you do better. I think that a lot of the insecurity that goes with any creative field comes from things like time constraints, financial constraints, and all sorts of other external limitations. On some of the photographs I would spend 15 or 16 hours grading them and getting the colours right and then I’d come in the next day and think this is not right and start over again. I think there is an insecurity that goes with all creative processes.
GUG’O
OTHANDAYO
“Gug'othandayo-The Musical” is an exciting yet touching story of old aged women taking you on a journey through music and storytelling. These stories reflect their everyday situations and the struggles they face in their communities and homes as elderly people. Bafana Dladla and Moses Muyela are the directors for the production. They hail from eMalahleni in Mpumalanga and they work with the team of 60 elderly women. “We were approached by the Gogo's to be part of their initiative after they heard about our directing work in an interview we did on Emalahleni fm. We’re very excited to work with the Gogo's because every day we learn something new from them” said Dladla. The play includes scenes about elderly women being called witches and their basic human rights not being taken seriously due to their age and abilities. The Gogo's form part of an organization called “Vukani Emalahleni Service Centre.” The Organization conducts and facilitates activities for senior citizens around the community of Emalahleni area for the benefit of the elderly Currently they conduct activities which include gymnastics, theatre recreations, sports and other general recreational activities for the elderly. “I'm happy that elderly people are participating in different activities to keep them healthy. Local clinics also drop in to check for high blood pressure etc. Acting has always been my passion. We encourage other Gogo's in the country to make acting part of their extra mural activity,” said Gogo Maria Nxumalo. The production will be performing at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival at the city hall in July. “We are very excited about the arts festival as it is the one of Africa's biggest arts festivals and to be part of that is an honour. It will motivate us to spread the positive spirit to the younger generation too! We will lead by example.” concluded Gogo Nxumalo.
“The Gug'othandayo Musical� needs assistance from sponsors to continue with their activities. The team of elderly women ask for your support in any way possible. If you would like to contribute or donate you can contact Maria Nxumalo on +27 73 813 0642.
SKYZOO
Our interview with Brooklyn, NY rapper Gregory Skyler Taylor better known as Skyzoo was not an easy one to dust off. He had just dropped a project with fellow rapper Torae, so between the shows, running a business, and the time-zone differences we were starting to think that maybe, just maybe, not all good things come to those who wait. After a couple of weeks of trying to synch diaries and set the whole thing up, we finally Skyped the interview with the wordsmith. This is what the hardworking MC shared with us about his career, the state of Hip Hop, and the Barrel Brothers:
For those who’ve been sleeping... who is Skyzoo? Those who don’t know Skyzoo are few and far between man. Skyzoo is a lyricist, MC, song-writer, ghost-writer, and a storyteller. I tell stories through the music in the hope that people will relate. Can you tell us about your journey into hip hop? I grew up in Brooklyn – born and raised. When I was growing up back in the 80’s hip hop was everywhere. You couldn’t open a window or watch TV without hearing it. I also had young parents who were into hip hop. I started rhyming when I was 9 years old off Chi Ali. I heard Chi Ali’s “Age ain’t nothin but a # (number)”. That was the moment when I said to myself “I want to do this.” Growing up on the same street as the late Notorious BIG, does that add pressure? I don’t
know if it puts pressure on me, but I do know that there hasn’t been a rapper from this neighbourhood since BIG besides me. I mean there hasn’t been a rapper that has gotten attention. By BIG I mean the whole Junior Mafia conglomerate. So now it’s kinda a personal goal of mine to make sure that the stories from my streets are told.
These days it seems like a dope MC is measured by record sales etc. Are record sales a measure of dopeness? Nah not at all. Record sales are just a reflection of the marketing budget. The amount of marketing dollars determines the number of people that will know who you are and that increases the number of records you can potentially sell. If record sales reflected skill then a lot of people would say that I and a bunch of other artists should be ten times platinum by now. Record sales don’t reflect good music, just marketing dollars. “Dreams vs. Reality” is a recurring theme in your music. Your last album was titled “A Dream Deferred” – talks us through that theme. Well, we all want to achieve our dreams but I would rather achieve my dreams within the reality. I would like my dreams to become the reality. That’s why people dream in the first place. You know where you want to get to and then you make a plan to get there. But that being said, I definitely live in reality.
There’s a joint that I still play from “A Dream Deferred” - Spike Lee Was My Hero featuring Talib Kweli. That song is a gem. How did that track come about? Growing up in Brooklyn, Spike Lee was always one of my heroes. My dad made me watch Spike Lee movies and I wrote reports about him. I was listening to beats that I was going to use for that album and I got the beat from this kid called Tall Black Guy who is a producer out of Detroit. As soon as I heard those horns it was like super-hero theme music. I started thinking about my super-heroes. My father was always my super-hero but my father is right here. So I looked for a super-hero that I can’t touch. And it was easy, Spike Lee. I started writing it right there. You’re a hardworking artist. What keeps you going? The passion for the music. We’ve seen artists come along for a year or two and then disappear. That makes you wonder what their love and passion was really like. I think a lot of people get in the music game because they see the lights, cameras, money, etc. We all love those things but you can tell when people don’t have a passion for the music. If I was to strike the lotto for 200 million dollars tomorrow I’d still make music.
The “Barrel Brothers” project with Torae. There’s a lot of the New York sound on the record. Was that a conscious decision? And what has the response been like? We wanted it one hundred percent NY. The goal was to make the album sound like you were standing in New York on a cloudy afternoon and the city was just real hard, grey, and gritty. We wanted it to sound like the New York we grew up in. The response has been amazing. When you put a project together you want people to understand it. You want them to listen to it and relate. We’ve been fortunate because people are like “Yeah, I get it. I can’t get enough of it. I wanna put it on repeat.” How did the “Barrel Brothers” name come up? Actually uhm, it happened through somebody on Wikipedia. Before we’d even said we’d do the project I was on tour with Ghostface, and Torae came out to help run the tour. We were backstage and a kid came up to us and said “Yo! When is Barrel Brothers coming out?” And we had no idea what he was talking about. And so he pulls out his Blackberry phone and goes to my Wikipedia page and it had all my projects but it also said “Barrel Brothers with Torae coming soon.” We just ran with it. Before I let you go. What do you hate about Hip Hop or the industry today? The business-end is always funny. I’m always trying to do good business. I’m always about us hip hop artists getting what we deserve. But the business gets so dirty sometimes. A simple deal always turns into something else. But the game is the game.
My motivation was and is different. We started at a time when there was no industry. When we started we were exploited and all those things. Graffiti has only become financially viable in the last five years. There were times when I couldn’t afford the cappuccinos we’re drinking right now.
FALKO
It’s 9H25 Monday morning. I’m sitting at the Oakhurst Farmstall in Kenilworth observing a man who I deduce to be a pensioner engage in battle with his unfoldable newspaper. I’m waiting for graffiti artist Falko for our 9H30 interview. I check my watch again and it’s still 9H25. The reason for my being uneasy is because the day before, I called to remind him about the interview and his response was: “Oh shit! I knew I had something on for Monday. I couldn’t remember what it was.” I text Falko at approximately… 9H26. He responds - he is five minutes away. I feel my muscles relax as if someone gave me horse tranquiliser. He shows up two minutes later and I can’t help but notice the specks of paint on the black frame of his glasses. Falko is widely regarded as one of the top Graffiti artists in South Africa. He played an integral part in the development of the graffiti scene in the country. We order some cappuccinos and chat.
Where does the name Falko come from? It’s from a pop/rap song by a guy called Falco. He had a song titled “Rock Me Amadeus” back in the 80’s. I liked that song so much that the kids in my class started calling me Falco. By the time I started doing graffiti I was already known as Falco. I switched it up a little with the K. If I had chosen a name for myself it probably would’ve been shitty.
How did you get into graffiti art? The answer to that are three stories that run parallel. I attended school at Westridge High in Mitchell’s Plain. That school, along with a couple of other high schools in the area were the hub of hip hop in the 80’s. That’s the beginning of the one story. The second story is; I used to date this girl and she was more into punk-rock. She invited me to a punk hangout in town and that night I met the guys from P.O.C and Brasse Vannie Kaap, but they weren’t famous then. I also met a guy called Jamo and he told me that they were starting a crew called “Zulu Nation” and were looking for artists and he asked me to join. I started to associate with them and then one day I walked into my classroom and there was a big drawing on the back wall. It was a picture of my face with a penis coming out of it and next to it were the words “Falko you’re a dickhead.” It was a rival crew that did it and I said “okay cool, let’s do this.” The third story was the bad condition of the schools in the Cape Flats. One day the principal caught us tagging the school wall and instead of us getting a beating he paid us R70 to paint something proper. So all those things; the hip hop influence, the politics of the 80’s, they all put me on my journey into graffiti.
People have started referring to graffiti as “street art” or “street writing”; do you think they are trying to make the art sound more acceptable? The first time I came across the term “street art” was in 2008. At the time the only person who was called a “street artist” was a guy by the name “Banksy.” I actually had a problem with people calling me a street artist. People would call me on the phone looking for a street artist named Falko and I’d tell them I’m a graffiti artist. They’d put the phone down thinking they had the wrong Falko. I then realised that those who do not change with the times get left behind. There’s still a rift between the purists and the so called street artist. The purists say street art lacks edge. At the end of day this all just shows that our art is a growing organism. Street art feels softer whereas graffiti feels rough and more street than street art. What are your feelings on the graffiti scene in South Africa? There’s no scene in Cape Town. I think Jo’burg has the most thriving scene at the moment. We had our glory days here in Cape Town from ’94 to 2007 but those days are gone. These days you get guys that call themselves street artists or graffiti artists but only paint once a month. To me that makes them part-time artists. People still “bomb” trains down here but we can’t call it an industry if it’s only in one environment.
Which do you enjoy most, painting people’s houses or big buildings? I enjoy people’s houses, especially in small towns. The reason I like to do homes in small towns is that when you speak to the people you discover that they don’t value their homes. Yes they decorate and stuff but they don’t see the bigger picture of a home and what it can be or represent. So I come in, I paint something on the wall, and suddenly that home is a tourist attraction, people take photos of it, it ends up on the internet. Sometimes the tourists would give the people some cash. It changes the whole perception of what a house is.
There’s a lot of humour, satire, and philosophy in your work. My wife has a Degree in Philosophy but it has no influence on certain parts of my work. If I had to study anything in the world, it would be philosophy. I’ve read a few books but as you know, it has no end. My favourite philosophical quote is; “nothing comes from nothing.” Every time people say “this is so original” I say “nothing comes from nothing.” I never use the word “original” because I know that whatever exists now has been influenced by something that existed before. I think philosophy comes into my work because I like finding meaning in things. Art; be it music, or film, or whatever, carries a lot of metaphors and people miss them most of the time. I sometimes wish that people could hang out with people that are not like them so that they can broaden their minds and their world.
What’s your favourite thing to paint at the moment? Chickens. I started painting them about a year ago. The symbolism it has to humans is crazy. For instance, chickens never stray far from each other. They are always in a group it’s like the gang mentality or the herd mentality of humans. It’s the “stay in a group, don’t be too different, and don’t stray too far from home” mentality. Chickens also have different meanings in different cultures. In Senegal I was painting a chicken on a house and the lady of the house was screaming at me in French even though her son had given me permission. My translator filled me in and told me that the lady was mad because over there they sometimes use chickens in voodoo rituals. Lastly, I saw that you get involved in community projects… I used to. I was really committed to such projects. I did that for about twenty years. In 2008 I had three schools where I was asked to go to teach. The kids didn’t seem to appreciate or participate in the classes. At one school we were doing a lesson on AIDS. I gave them the different AIDS theories, you know - it came from monkeys, or was a result of chemical warfare and all that. After the lesson I asked the kids to recap one of the theories. Only one kid put his hand up and all he said was “monkey.” He only said that one word. I went back to my funders and told them I’m not doing it anymore. I’ve got three kids of my own and my question to myself was; “Why am I spending so much time with these other kids when I could put all this energy into my own kids and let them be the change in the world?” I understand we have to give back but I can’t put that much in, neglect my own kids, and walk away with nothing.
Nakhane TourĂŠ
SAMA winner, twenty six year old Nakhane Touré has been making waves in the music industry. Born Nakhane Mahlakahlaka in Alice in the Eastern Cape, he took on the “Touré” moniker as homage to the great Ali Farka Touré. When he was fifteen years old his family moved to Johannesburg on a quest for a better financial life. A couple of months later he was involved in an accident that reminded him of the world around him - dark and filled with pain. Nakhane is a singer and songwriter; and lists the likes of Busi Mhlongo, Thandiswa Mazwai, Simphiwe Dana, Marvin Gaye, his family, and American rock bands as his inspiration. In primary school he participated in arts, and his mother bought him a guitar years after moving to Johannesburg and that’s where his musical journey began. The artist has a very flexible working process which many would find ’luxurious.’ He reads, listens to other artists, baths with his notepads and uses them to collect information, store words, melodies, and rhythms as they come to mind. He recently won the South African Music Award for Best Alternative Album for his record “Brave Confusion” and says “Ndigalelekile”, which literally means “I have been poured” into the music industry. Nakhane believes that music is sometimes the only thing worth living for and it is what he was brought in this world to do. His musical style is rooted in African indigenous music and indie rock but he effortlessly dabbles in all types “I don’t believe that there are bad genres, just bad musicians within those genres and great ones too, but I catch myself frowning almost every time I hear a metal song it seems so brazen and inartistically blatant” said Nakhane Toure when we asked about genres of music he can’t stand.
Nakhane Touré is set apart from other black artists by the type of music he produces (soul music) and has further showed bravery by being open about his sexuality and the tracks he calls “gay love songs.” Nakhane’s advice to new artists is that they should never be changed by the lights, ever! And that they should remind themselves everyday why they’re doing what they’re doing and make sure the reason stays constant.
Fana Tshabalala Nothing is impossible in life, if one person can do it, so can I.
He is a storyteller and winner of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Dance in 2013. He uses dance to relay his message and hold a conversation with the Audience and his drive to be a pioneer in the dance world has seen his career flourish. He has a more thought provoking and reflective approach to his art. His father was a “isiChamiya” dancer. Inspired by this, at 10 year old Fana joined a community dance group called Sonqoba cultural group. After completing his matric in 2005 a friend introduced him to “Moving Into Dance”. In 2006 Fana got the opportunity to learn Afro Fusion, Contemporary dance, and Choreography through MID and within a year he choreographed his first work titled “Conversation between He and he” and performed it at the FNB Dance Umbrella. In 2009 Fana spent 6 months in Europe where he taught workshops and created a new Dance work which was performed all across Europe and in Africa. After a few years at MID, he joined a new company called “The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative” where he is currently an Assistant Director, dancer, choreographer, and teacher.
You started off with Zulu dance and moved to contemporary, what was the change like? I feel like it was a great change that happened at right time. At some point while doing Zulu traditional dance, I felt like I needed my own voice and an opportunity to create my own work so that I can express my unique artistic voice. Contemporary dance allowed me to do that. Contemporary dance is a universal language which dancers use to communicate with the audience. But, Zulu traditional dance benefited my contemporary a lot. It helped me to create my own unique style or way of moving. Most of my choreography is inspired by the traditional African dance styles. I do believe that one’s roots will never be taken away from them but will grow with time and influence their future.
What do you hope your success will do for other young male dancers? The aim is to inspire a lot of young dances out there, and pass on all my knowledge and skills to them. I want to motivate and encourage them to take dance as a career and open lots of doors both locally and internationally. What traits or conditions do you feel contributed to you being where you are today? My background has helped me to be where I am today. I am from the Vaal Triangle where dance was never seen as career, or was seen to be for the few people that made it in the arts. And plus my family wasn’t rich. So I always told myself that I want to change my family’s situation and myself. I also had vision of becoming one of the best, which I am striving to archive. Did you believe that you would achieve all you have at such a young age? I never expected to archive what I have now at the age of 27. I didn’t grow up around people who “made it” within the arts industry. But when I got to “Moving Into Dance” I had a mentor by the name of David April who strongly believed in me and still does even now. He’s kept me going for all the years that I have been in the arts industry.
You probably had ideas about what the life of a dancer is like before you became a professional, have those changed? When I started I always thought that Dance was just about passion and movements put together. I was shocked to find out that it requires more. One needs to be trained/taught the technique required for that particular dance genre. You put in lots of hours, energy, research, and effort to choreograph a work. Sustaining your career also requires lots of hard work. These days one needs to be able to know how to write proposals and convince people to buy into their product, this requires something else as well - business skills.
What obstacles do you face in your career? The lack of resources and funding has always been a problem. Art is not recognised [as a business or career] and most dance companies are closing down due to lack of funds, and jobs are becoming very scarce. Also, this year Germany denied me a visa and I had to replace myself in my own work. The tour was for the whole month of March and I had to teach someone else my entire work within a week. . Lots of young people, with a passion for dance, worry about not having the right body type to be a dancer and end up not pursuing their dreams. Do you need to be a certain way to be a dancer? You don’t need to have a special body type to become a contemporary dancer. All it requires is for you to have the passion and commitment alongside with the physicality. If one understands his/her body and is able to move, then that’s good enough for me. What inspires you in dancing and what do you think will keep you inspired? What inspires me is the world in general. Seeing people every day dealing with different issues, and how things develop with time. This makes me more creative and I always think of possible ways to become part of the human evolution. My vision and goal is to become the best within the best and I also get to travel all over the world and see different places and artists, and I have a platform to speak my mind freely.
BONGIWE
WALAZA
Eastern Cape born and now Johannesburg based Bongiwe Walaza is one of South Africa’s most renowned fashion designers. Her mother was a dressmaker and Bongiwe first learned to design and make clothes but piecing together the materials her mother discarded. But as she grew older she didn’t choose fashion design as her first career choice but opted to study electrical engineering. She got a job at Telkom and started to make her own clothes. It was in 1997, when people started coming to her house asking her to make clothes for them, that's when she enrolled at Natal Technikon to study fashion design. After finishing her studies she started her own label and used the original shweshwe as her signature fabric. “Starting my own brand was not a problem because my name became a brand before I even knew it. The South African embassies around the world would invite me to showcase my work. I became a brand before I even became aware of something called a “brand.”
Her fascination with isishweshwe started when she was in her 3rd year of fashion studies. It began when she was preparing for a show themed “Afrique Novo” and was looking for something African yet different. “When you’re a young designer you start off wanting to do something different from everyone else. I found myself in the bush shops where they sell traditional African fabrics and this is where my attraction to isishweshwe started. I could identify with it because of my background - it being worn by omakoti,” says Bongiwe about the start of her love affair with isishweshwe.
Da Gama, the manufacturers of the fabric (shweshwe) were so impressed with her work that they offered to sponsor all of her future shows. Bongiwe has gone on to dress high profile personalities and has won numerous awards. Her designs have been exhibited in New York, India, London, Switzerland, Japan, Milan, Vietnam, Greece, etc. “I’ve noticed that European countries do not expect African designers to do what European designers are doing. When they invite African designers it’s because they are looking for something African, and they love African designs.”
Bongiwe is also quick to point out the challenges of working with isishweshwe. The fabric is a traditional fabric and a lot of people use it but she has found that people copy her designs from her website and take them to dressmakers and have bad replicas of the designs made. And she has also learnt that some Chinese manufactures have been mass producing duplicates of her designs. “Being copied is a big issue. It’s not nice when my clients come to me and pay “designer money” for an outfit and when they go to an event they see someone else wearing an imitation of what they are wearing,” she says about the duplication of her designs. Bongiwe takes the challenges in her stride as they have taught her to be more business minded and to come out her designer cocoon. Her goal now is to make sure her brand is not only known as a South African brand but a global brand. She is in the process of launching an online platform to broaden her reach. Her words to live by for up and coming designers are; “Your gift can take you to heights your character cannot carry you. It’s easy to fall because of your character so there are things you need to go through so you can respect what you have. Learn and practice; just because you pray for it does not mean it will happen.
03 JULY 2014 - 06 AUGUST 2014 MARY SIBANDE: “THE PURPLE SHALL GOVERN” NWU Gallery, Potchefstroom, South Africa Call for flagship applications: Arts projects. The NAC has limited funding available to support 6-8 Special Projects of national significance that strengthen the arts and meets the enhanced strategic goals of the NAC for the period 2014-2018. Closing date: 31 July 2014 Visit: www.nac.org.za for more info.
Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great Dr. Orison Swett Marden
INGREDIENTS Amanqina (chicken feet) Mixed peppers Garlic Carrots Onion Mayonnaise Chilies Lemon Black pepper PREPARATION METHOD Boil chicken feet and after 15 minutes dip in barbeque sauce then grill for 5 minutes. Chop onions, mixed peppers and garlic till fine. Chop carrots into long sticks, then fry onion in pan for 5 minutes then add the mixed peppers and garlic to the pan. Add lemon and black pepper then the mixture into a bowl and add the mayonnaise.
INGREDIENTS Mixed veg Wors Samp Beans PREPARATION METHOD Boil 2 cups of samp, when its soft rince and add 2 packets of red beans. After 15 minutes add stock cubes and salt. Boil the mixed veg then add butter and aromat Fry the Wors.
Meals prepared by Ampilo Catering Services Babalwa Kupiso t. +27 79 143 5698
Its about 10pm on a Sunday. Peer pressure has me driving around the hood going from bottle store to bottle store hoping to find a decent bottle of wine (I am sober by the way). After a while my shotgun navigator informs me that the best I will get at a decent price (R50) is a Nederburg Baronne but I must buy coke to dash it with - WTF?! It turns out that’s how people drink it in the hood and this is because it’s just too dry and spicy to drink on its own, so they say. I decide to buy 3 bottles and 2 cans of coke which I keep in my jacket pocket. Back at ‘the spot’ everyone pours themselves a glass, and sip… the facial expressions make it clear that this is going to be an interesting experience. While everyone is “enjoying” their glass I pull one can of coke from my pocket and pour a bit in my glass. This was not received well by the more schooled winos but I was experimenting. I also noticed how some of the alkies in the room did not mind drinking it without the coke.
I admit, my knowledge in wine is about as vast as Thembi Seete’s vocal range. Close to non-existent. I am a casual enthusiast, I do enjoy a good glass and can tell the difference between a good wine and plonk. For me the Baronne is in the grey area. Very grey. It’s too harsh for my liking. Your first sip sends a clear message about the hangover you’ll get. But, if you like your wines with peppery and spicy nuances then this blend is for you. The wine is full bodied, has smoky characters and goes well with red meat. Enjoy! Main Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon Alcohol: 13.55% vol pH: 3.65 RS: 4.36 g/l TA: 5.59 g/l Characteristics Type: Red Style: Dry Body: Medium
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