Kwa Mai Mai is not for the faint-hearted. Even on the way, my driver was telling me horror stories about murder and other crimes. I had stories of my own. Last time I was here, I brought a Swedish friend. They promptly took her phone 🤣. But dare to brave the imposing walls of this…
This month The Centre for the Less Good Idea celebrates its seventh year of promoting interdisciplinary, collaborative and experimental art not only in South Africa but also on the international stage. Season 10, running from the 18th to the 22nd, presented a revival of the Collapsed Concert and a reimagined version of William Kentridge‘s A…
Within every social setting, we as the Johannesburg youth have seen a conflation of culture and cultural amalgamation. From the Melville strip to Maboneng and to Sandton, it is impossible to exist in a shell, in which one can exhibit a singular aspect of oneself. One is not likely to see another person and not relate…
The existential dilemma of whether my career is my life or my life is my career in Johannesburg came up for me one week ago. To ensure that I was “living” my life outside of work constraints, I naturally scheduled a full week’s worth of activities to do throughout the workweek. Although I do not…
“Self-described “Diaspora children” connecting with historic land and seeing firsthand what happens when a simple idea connects music fans who are 6,000 miles apart”. #UBUONTOUR The Ubunifu Space is a YouTube channel and online platform launched in 2017 to celebrate sounds coming from African artists in the continent and diaspora. From day one, the concept…
The inner city of Johannesburg has had an interesting history over the last 25 years. In the changes that took place around 1994, many whites and white owned businesses moved out of the city centre, fleeing to suburbs and business districts such as Sandton which seemed to promise “safety and security.” Whilst the government implemented…
Cities are alive. In the same way that bodies renew themselves by creating new cells, so are buildings, streets and whole areas refurbished, and gentrified to fit middle class standards of city living. Architectural plans and city mapping has been digitized to allow for life-like images of future spaces. In Africa this is often tied…
At the top of a list of powerful black anthems is probably Solange’s ‘Don’t touch my hair’, a song that captures the sacredness of a black girl’s hair. In the opening verse Solange expresses that our hair is a manifestation of our feelings, our soul, our rhythm, a crown, which cannot be touched. These are…
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…
This release is a psychedelic fun ride through the urban centre of South Africa, from the streets of Soweto to the enclave of Maboneng. Bhubesii raps from the perspective of his Kobayashi alter ego, a stylish trickster on a mission for a good time. The music aims to reinterpret classic kwaito for 2016, with Bhubesii…
