Halls — alongside a strong group of graphic designers; visual artists; animators and illustrators — gave Braamfontein, Johannesburg, an inhaler with their Breathe for It campaign. Not only have they managed to revive Braam Square but Halls and Karabo Poppy have given eight deserving artists a canvas to showcase exactly what they’ve got.
Halls, one of the country’s most well-known candy mint companies, is assisting the industry by collaborating with Karabo Poppy, a renowned street artist and illustrator in SA, to mentor South African artists through the #BreatheForIt initiative.
Karabo Poppy took us on a tour to see all these murals around Braamfontein and that is when we got introduced to the mentees of this initiative. The mentees are Anathi Hadebe; Boemo Diale; Buhle Ramalepa; Dustin August; Johnny Allison; Leigh Le Roux & Levi Pooe.
In conversation with Leigh Le Loux; Buhle Ramalepa; Dustin August and Boemo Diale they spoke on the importance of collaboration.
Bubblegum Club: What do you think is the importance of collaboration within the art space?
Leigh: I think collaboration is how we grow as we bring our networks together for something that’s bigger than just ourselves. Even when creating our mural we had our families there helping us paint because the wall was bigger than we could handle on our own.
Buhle and Leigh shared a canvas. Their mural is behind TOMS in Braamfontein.
Buhle: Collaboration is truly important within the art space because we can’t do anything alone and we as artists have our own special touches, when we put our talents and uniqueness together it creates something extraordinary that wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t a collaboration.
Dustin: Collaboration is important in many ways. I think about how powerful it is to share ideas, resources and skills with other creatives. It truly creates an enormous, gigantic monster of beautiful work. Each collaborator is challenged and oftentimes challenged to make some of the best work they have ever made, all the while leaving an experience with a feeling of accomplishment.
Bubblegum Club: Breathing is an integral part of being. It is a necessity of being a human — it is innate. What would you say is something that you breathe for?
Boemo: I breathe for expansion and growth, not only in my personal dreams and ambitions but within the community, for a positive change in how African artists are approached and viewed globally.
Leigh: I breathe for the opportunity to showcase the beautiful people we have here and the love they have for their families, and I say that as someone that also believes that our friends are also our family.
The characters I illustrate are inspired by the photos I’ve taken of my friends in the past where I saw the beauty in just being in a space with those you love, and I would never really feature in those photos as I had a very low self-image.
Buhle: I breathe for art and creativity as well as the African aesthetic and patterns — you can find patterns on mud cloths as well as African decor like on clay pots and Ankara fabrics, they can be seen in a lot of my art.
Dustin: I am inspired by connection and I don’t just mean the inter-human experience. I mean connection at all scales and levels; like how different building materials meet to create a junction or how clothing panels come together to create structure etc. There is something very special in that moment when all elements play together in harmony, move past each other quietly or seize to meet. I appreciate both the tension and the balance. Either way, I am most inspired by that interchange.
We would like to wish all the mentees success and abundance. This initiative was tailored to act as a catalyst for a successful art career in South Africa. Their work lives in one of the creative hubs in South Africa — contributing directly to their community.
