This title may come across as clickbait, but it is not entirely unfounded. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the literacy rate in Africa was estimated to be around 64% in 2018, which is below the global average of 86%. Data from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators shows a lower availability of books…
In the day to day living of our lives, as we pass thousands — if not millions — of faces in our lifetime, it can be easy to be consumed by the seeming vastness of life on earth. One might believe, from our devastating impact on it, that we as people outsize the world. However, the ocean…
Amazon is known as an eminent American global brand that focuses largely on e commerce and digital streaming. The brand is directed by the current CEO — Andy Jassy and was founded by billionaire entrepreneur — Jeff Bezos. The company started its global expansion journey after finding its success within the borders of America, settling…
On Sunday, 18 April a fire erupted on the slopes of the mountain above Philip Kgosana Drive in Cape Town and set ablaze, among other buildings, the UCT Jagger library. In a statement to the public, the UCT Executive Director of the libraries, Ujala Satgoo, stated that the Reading Room had been destroyed and valuable…
‘Sustainability’ has marked the fashion industry as more of a conceptual idea; rather than an actionable initiative; and although we see many ‘sustainability’ reports coming out of large companies and brands; it is really small-scale designers who are responding to the overwhelming need for a quick, dedicated transition towards a circular and fair garment economy….
Multi-instrumentalist producer and performance artist Nkosenathi Koela, or Mntana.WeXhele as he is known, has established himself in the arts and culture realm for using sounds and movement to heal. He has travelled the country and parts of Africa with the ‘UMSAMO’ production. Towards the end of 2020, he released his first LP, Embo Ethongweni. The…
It’s a long way to Gwadana; a place where tongues are long, clouds are neon, bellies are round, hills are pink and tails are chariots. As you travel along the edge, a tender song of melodies is set free. Mystery engulfs and fantasy captivates. Behind every hill lies an absurd universe. The mythology of witchcraft…
Working through seed, land and food from a socio-political perspective; Zayaan Khan turns to the earth as her source of knowledge, weaving together an astounding and continual offering of reclaiming indigenous food practices and food justice while critiquing our collective dependency on neo-liberalism. I was first introduced to her work a few years ago with…
A culture that is rich and vibrant but one also drenched in humility. All our intricacies — everything we have endured and are still are enduring — without even knowing it, has formed the foundation of what we are becoming. Our history has manifested our art, music, food and even – some would argue –…
In a moment where debates about land are at their peak in South Africa, Uriel Orlow‘s Theatrum Botanicum on show at Pool Space in Johannesburg fertilizes ideas around the botanical world as a stage for politics through film, photography, installation and sound. This ongoing project follows the trajectory of most of his work; research-based contemplations with collaborative methodologies,…
