Cuss Group was founded in 2011 by Ravi Govender, Jamal Nxedlana and Zamani Xolo. Standing out as one of the first South African arts collective focussing on digital technologies, they don’t need much of an introduction. Since their formation they have gone viral and infiltrated a variety of spaces such as Internet cafes and hair…
For the queer, the trans, the non-conforming, the female and the black, For those who have been alienated by mainstream culture, For those who are constantly harassed by patriarchy and suffer at the hands of capitalism, For copper-coloured Afro wigs, golden chokers, torn stockings and moving freely despite Lorraine’s side-eye, there is FAKA. Buyani Duma…
I interviewed Silondile Jali aka Slomokazi about her project #Nonke, which she describes as art fashion. Collaborating with photographer Paul Shiakallis, as well as her brother Siviwe Jali, Desire Marea, Fela Gucci, Mantis Shabane, Mamauba Mobi Malahlela and Assent Lesego Mnewe as models, this work is a celebration of self. Tell our readers about the…
Fashion label Glitter Betty from up-and-coming designer Khensani Mohlatlole exemplifies all things young and fun. Inspired by babes like Fela Gucci and Desire Marea from FAKA, she conjures up whimsical, textured garments and accessories. Glitter Betty started from Khensani’s obsession with thrift shopping and upcycling in high school and became an extension of a her…
Faka, the dynamic duo of Desire Marea and Fela Gucci, are proudly representing black and queer creativity with potent sound and vision. Along with their glam imagery and performance pieces, they make music which combines the brute force of Gqom with the optimistic ghost of bubblegum township pop, kwaito and gospel. Their artistic manifesto is…
One of the defining features of nightclubs is that they are loud and dark: there’s little allowance for speaking. It’s a space where our bodies are especially loaded, in part because they are the primary means by which we signal to, and experience, one another. We dance, we push, we touch, we avoid, we shoot…
It’s dark and warm in the sweet sweat-scented nightclub. Exclusively female and femme-identified DJs stroke the decks — a sonic pleasure patrol, an Empress insurrection. There’s a Hello Kitty pussy-cat vagazzling the DJ booth, backlit by velvet and a lick of pink lighting. Think Pussy Pride. Pussy Play. Pussy Power. Pussy Party. It’s a story about…
2016 has been the year of FAKA. The creative duo of Desire Marea and Fela Gucci have outdone themselves and broken cultural ground with every drop and every performance this year. On the 21st of April 2016 they gave an exhilarating live performance that set the Stevenson SEX exhibit alight. While a new video for ISIFUNDO…
Three months ago, I shared 90-minutes with Buyani Duma (otherwise known as Desire Marea, of the artist collective FAKA). Encased in a wall of glass at the Newtown Workshop, we moved unusually quickly from strangers’ niceties to buried intimacies. A few weeks later, on a Juta Street corner, Didi Simelane (A.K.A style icon Didi Monsta)…
Fuck your false sense of reverence as you snort and swallow for sensation, lapping up the glitter of smashed glass in sweaty rooms. Different artillery is required for these cities where hate can be placed on a heart through the harsh angles of the grind through grimey streets. In a summoning by the Open Time…
The Cape Town based electronic artist Angel Ho made an international splash last year with his hard- hitting debut EP Ascension. That release consisted of five sinister experimental tracks and was mastered by Arca, whose previous collaborators have included Kayne West and Bjork. Angel Ho is also the co-founder of NON records, an internet based…
Thabiso, a lean figure that would rouse rampant suspicion in the skinny-shaming society that lurked outside the shut door, carried a strong face with eyes that danced with miscalculated intensity. My gaze journeyed lazily along the smooth silver landscape where the moonlight licked his skin; his body paralysed by the emasculating failure that lingered like…
