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…
There was a time when Ayanda Mabulu had an open-door policy in his studio and oh what a time it was! One could often pass by the Media Mill space and find a number of artists engaged in vibrant studio practice or fervent discourse. Mabulu whose presence is both calming and commanding moved as if…
With a 2019 BFA from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, Bulumko Mbete’s career is on a steep upward trajectory. We’ve watched her navigate the art world with skilful finesse, infiltrating spaces that were thought inaccessible. She is the 2023 recipient of the Cassirer Welz Award and has just started her MFA at Carnegie Mellon University,…
The 1960s initially witnessed counterculture movements erupt as movements that opposed the rifeness of racial and political injustices that were invading the Western world at the time. The movement popularised many alternate forms of identity and expression, notably the Hippie Movement, whose impact still remains progressive in modern-day society. Even if the conformity to a…
11 August 1973 is a special day for those who live, breathe and study a genre of music that is currently the most profitable style of music in the world, as it is the day Hip-Hop was born. A genre of music that has since its inception captivated people with its use of the breakbeat…
Having spent my morning watching Salvatore Vitale‘s video, I Am A Human (2023) on repeat, I rushed to our meeting at Emzini near Westdene Dam, still reeling from its lingering impact. In the café’s homely atmosphere, I began interrogating his work on contemporary societies, exploitation and digital technology, particularly within the context of Johannesburg. Opting…
In a country like South Africa, where one music genre often takes the spotlight, it’s difficult to stand out and make an impact. Amapiano has dominated the music landscape all over the country and has managed to break borders to travel to international stages. The Amapiano beats are often what we hear, from club floors…
With her mother working as a seamstress, Naeelah Jumat, founder and creative director of the South African-based streetwear brand, Socioculture, grew up with an appreciation for the fashion industry. “One of my fondest memories as a young girl is going with my mother to work at the factory,” Jumat says. “It’s crazy to think back…
In a “post-apartheid” South Africa, sharing the stories of people of colour is necessary to challenge the representation of BIPOC in the archive. But who gets to create this archive? And more importantly, who gets to dictate the narrative of this archive? These are all questions photographer Tshepiso Mazibuko’s work contends with. Born and raised…
“Piano piano asisalali emakhaya, ngenxa yakho” are words everyone who listens to Amapiano, both locally and internationally, knows. Amapiano, for those who don’t know or are confused due to the noise on the net, is a South African genre of dance music that has swept the world over. The genre has lifted young people from…
The essayistic film Milisuthando is meditative and slow — it presents long, romantic shots where the camera is simply moving from scene to scene, punctuated with poetic narrations, often layered over resonant polyphonic melodies. The shots are evocative, meandering and mesmerising — a small flame travelling slowly through space from stick to candle, large expanses…
In the realm of contemporary artistic endeavours, few projects hold as much intellectual vigour as the School of Mutants. A beacon of conceptual inquiry and creative expression, this collective, situated at the confluence of artistry, architectural critique, and post-colonial realities, presents an inspiring narrative of engagement and reflection. At its heart lies an impassioned quest…
