“Within this burning planet has always existed another world, and the struggle to realise it,” says Nolan Oswald Dennis. The logic of colonial cosmology insists on the universality of the Western world: a planet rendered as private property, as social violence, as deliberate crisis. Occupying the same space and time as the colonial planet are…
Reaching the milestone of 20 years as a dancer this year, performance artist Llewellyn ‘LuluBelle’ Mnguni takes to the stage alongside photographic artist Travys Owen to exhibit Resilience, a “true and complicated story of Mnguni as a South African born and raised man who dealt with the Setswana cultural dealings and restrictions in a fast-growing…
“We need to ask ourselves if the world around us is being made in our image and if it isn’t, whose image is it made of? And how do we start to make our own?” Sumayya Vally Led by founder Sumayya Vally, the architectural studio Counterspace, was commissioned to design the acclaimed Serpentine Pavilion (2021)….
“The essence of Moonshine came out of parties we used to throw in our kitchens. We felt like we couldn’t go out and find what we had cooked up in our kitchen. It’s one of the reasons we started Moonshine, to share that with more people who felt like us, and who didn’t have access…
The relationship between art and pop culture is mutually beneficial. The two exist parallel to each other, constantly in dialogue. This relationship itself has influenced many artists and their practices, resulting in some of the most visually striking work ever seen. Works such as those by rug artist Henry Hamilton exist at the intersection of…
For decades, artists have been welcoming us into alternate worlds that they have created. Worlds that allow them to have a moment of reflection upon their life experiences, how they view themselves and the kind of worlds they are trying to forge through the beauty of self-portraits. I’m talking about worlds created by the likes…
…drape a white cloth around your waist and remember to cover your shoulder and head Prepare a glass of water and intsu Kneel on the straw mat Light a white candle and burn iMphepho Ngwana Badimo, speak… Words by a ‘voice’ that announces itself and speaks through Lerato Lodi’s Kopano; “a rush of spontaneous watercolour…
Contemporary African fashion is often a dialogue between the so-called modern and traditional. Under this postcolonial umbrella, contemporary Africans have to walk a thin line between the Western and globalised while trying to hold onto a distant history and disappearing tradition. Tinyiko Makwakwa’s work is interesting in this regard as she looks past this dialogue…
After spending some time reading about African mythologies and our take on spirituality, this body of work was created as a celebration of the coming of a new spirit/guardian angel/ancestor, as well as emphasising to people that we are god-like beings and that God can manifest in human form. The sense of community that can…
Through the collaborative residency project, Luso-Linkup, initiated by the Bag Factory to connect South Africa, Mozambique and Angola, editors Luamba Muinga and Sara Carneiro bring us the digital project; Are we not makers of history? Rendered in book format, the project brings together a group of artists, writers and makers to explore historical legacies of…
The following journeys present windows into the soul of the world as we experience, perceive, as we are, as we en(in)vision. In comparison to the growth of the tarot in its re-emergence in social media, popular culture and fashion as a site for inspiration and embedded stereotypes around the idea of the tarot, these artists…
* This body of work was created at the Bubblegum Studio with Q — bbythem — as the recipient of our Bubblegum Invites open call. In May 2021, Q, better known by their social media profile bbythem, won the third Bubblegum Invites (Bubblegum Invites: Makeup Artists) — an open call to makeup artists as part of…
