“We Wanted To Capture The Essence Of South African Township Culture In The 80s And 90s,” Says South

“We Wanted To Capture The Essence Of South African Township Culture In The 80s And 90s,” Says South
“We Wanted To Capture The Essence Of South African Township Culture In The 80s And 90s,” Says South
“We Wanted To Capture The Essence Of South African Township Culture In The 80s And 90s,” Says South
“We Wanted To Capture The Essence Of South African Township Culture In The 80s And 90s,” Says South
“We Wanted To Capture The Essence Of South African Township Culture In The 80s And 90s,” Says South
“We Wanted To Capture The Essence Of South African Township Culture In The 80s And 90s,” Says South
“We Wanted To Capture The Essence Of South African Township Culture In The 80s And 90s,” Says South
“We Wanted To Capture The Essence Of South African Township Culture In The 80s And 90s,” Says South
“We Wanted To Capture The Essence Of South African Township Culture In The 80s And 90s,” Says South
“We Wanted To Capture The Essence Of South African Township Culture In The 80s And 90s,” Says South

“We wanted to capture the essence of South African township culture in the 80s and 90s,” says South African photographer Kristin-Lee Moolman, recalling the brief for this shoot – the SS16 lookbook for emerging designer Rich Mnisi’s brand OATH studio. “The culture of androgyny was at its peak, supported largely by the need to ‘show up’ (out do each other).” So, to shoot the images, they headed to Mnisi’s grandmother’s house in Chiawelo, Soweto. When it came to casting the story, Moolman and Mnisi were keen to paint an accurate picture of youth culture in Johannesburg.

While Janet Otobo is a professional model, Wayne Swart is a student who they street cast on the way to the shoot. Aart Verrips is a photographer and, in fact, was Moolman’s assistant on the day. Incidentally it was Verrips’ first time in Soweto. “(It) was a new experience, especially being Afrikaans and gay,” he told us. “It was incredibly refreshing to go to the township and experiencing something totally different to what your perception had been.” As for Lucky Macheke – an accountant – he is Mnsis’s cousin and just happened to be hanging out in his grandmother’s house.

Desire Marea is one half of FAKA, an art duo who, as black queer artists, explore their complex identities through performance. “We teach complexities in a radical fight for our own humanity,” Marea says, explaining their raison d’être. In fact, Moolman and Mnisi also wanted to engage in identity politics in this shoot. “We felt that androgyny resonates with young people in South Africa now, where there is almost a celebration of LGBT communities as a movement to oppose cultural stereotypes and homophobia.

Written by Ted Stansfield for Dazed

More Posts from Associationxamxam and Others

11 years ago

Anticipation, le scénario africain

Ce matin sur France Culture l’économiste français, Nicolas Baverez, présentait son dernier ouvrage écrit sur le mode du roman d’anticipation, Lettres béninoises, dans lequel en 2040, un béninois, premier africain à diriger le FMI raconte à ses proches l’état de récession dans lequel il trouve la France.  Comme en réponse, le journaliste Xavier De La Porte opposait un autre scénario anticipateur défendu par les Singularistes : celui d’une post-humanité dans laquelle l’humain aurait considérablement augmenté ses capacités en fusionnant avec les machines. Ce scénario est aujourd’hui réellement développé au sein de la Singularity University, elle-même portée par Google, la NASA et Ray Kurzweil, un scientifique/homme d’affaire/visionnaire. 

A l’écoute de l’émission, je me suis demandé qu’elle était la place accordée au final à l’Afrique dans ces deux scénarii et à quoi pouvait-elle servir? 

En fait, dans le premier, Lettres béninoises, l’Afrique fait partie d’un dispositif qui doit fonctionner comme un électrochoc pour que justement le scénario d’une faillite de la France n’advienne pas et dans le second, elle est totalement absente, du moins dans la façon dont Xavier De La Porte a monté sa chronique. 

Cette absence contraste avec à la récente campagne L’Afrique connectée de Google qui se place comment étant au cœur du développement de l’Afrique. A travers une série de vidéos, Google montre comment des entrepreneurs africains « réussissent » professionnellement grâce justement aux outils du web et à Google. 

Pourtant, à faire défiler les films très courts de la campagne, il en ressort une impression d’uniformisation qui s’oppose singulièrement à cette notion de Singularité défendue par la firme internationale et qui me fait penser que -quand même- Google défend une vision totalitaire d’un monde dans lequel nous devrions tous ressembler à l’idée qu’elle se fait du futur à savoir : un monde de technocrates blancs, masculins et singulièrement âgés. 

Face à ces deux positions qui au final évacuent l'idée d'une participation active de l'Afrique, il me semble que la science-fiction africaine a un rôle à jouer. Celui d’écrire des histoires dans lesquelles il n’est fait table rase ni du passé, ni de la différence, ni de l’empathie, ni de la Nature et de la magie. Un monde multiple et donc chaotique mais singulièrement vivant. 


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9 years ago

Le savoir est l’unique fortune qu’on peut donner entièrement sans en rien la diminuer. Amadou Hampathe Ba


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11 years ago

New Kenyan Sci-Fi Series Imagines Immigration In Reverse, As Africa Becomes World’s Oasis

At a time when Africa receives 50,000 Greencard Lottery wins each year to migrate to the US alone, this new production series seeks to address ongoing immigration issues within the world. It is also expected to change the negative portrayal of Africa as a poverty stricken continent to that of an avenue for development, of which, would gradually discourage youth from seeking “greener pastures” abroad. As the brain child of Dr. Marc Rigaudis, directed by Cherie Lindiwe from USIU, the new plot revolves around a young couple embarking on a treacherous journey to reach mankind’s last cradle of hope, Africa. However, the couple must beat the impossible odds, experience great sacrifice yet keep their faith before their goal can be achieved.

H/T Shadow and Act


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9 years ago
City In The Blue Daylight: @Nataal Explores The 16th Dak’art Biennial For Contemporary African Art
City In The Blue Daylight: @Nataal Explores The 16th Dak’art Biennial For Contemporary African Art

City in the Blue Daylight: @Nataal explores the 16th Dak’art Biennial for Contemporary African Art @biennalededakar

http://bit.ly/Dakart


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8 years ago
Fulani Boys, Jos, Nigeria In The Early 90’s By Mike Blyth

Fulani Boys, Jos, Nigeria in the early 90’s by Mike Blyth

10 years ago

« De qui et de quoi sommes-nous les contemporains ? Et, avant tout, qu'est-ce que cela signifie, être contemporains ? »

Giorgio Agamben, Qu'est-ce que le contemporain?, Paris, Rivages, 2008.


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9 years ago

The world had to be “disenchanted” in order to be dominated.

Silvia Federici, Caliban and the Witch (via goneril-and-regan)


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9 years ago
New York, By Louis Draper

New York, by Louis Draper


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associationxamxam - African digital perspectives
African digital perspectives

"Of whom and of what are we contemporaries? And, first and foremost, what does it mean to be contemporary?" Giorgio Agamben, Qu’est-ce que le contemporain?, Paris, Rivages, 2008. Photo: Icarus 13, Kiluanji Kia Henda

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