JiK’iZinto is a movement representing a generation determined to take control of their future and rewrite the narrative. Backed by Girl Effect, a global non-profit organization, this initiative is all about inspiring young people to make informed choices and equipping them with the tools to tackle life’s challenges head-on. With its blend of music, multimedia…
South Africa is a nation of significant symbolic capital. Through popular culture, South Africans participate in an exchange of sounds, fashion and dance – as an embodiment of identity, self-fashioning and freedom. At the nexus of social media and popular culture, we witness the unabated invigoration of the ‘Lüh Twizzy movement’ – a movement largely…
Given the precarity that comes with choosing to pursue a creative career — especially in an African context, for a number of intersecting and diverging economic, infrastructural and socio-political reasons — I often find myself asking why it is that so many of us still endure doing this work. What compels us to take up…
BUBBLEGUM X partner, Daily Paper, has released their season lookbook, Identities Rebuilt, coinciding with the Amsterdam based organisation’s 10-year anniversary. BUBBLEGUM X is an initiative by Bubblegum Club and The Bubblegum Foundation aimed at advancing Africa’s ever-growing cultural influence in global creative scenes. The initiative is a means of leveraging and transforming this expanding cultural and…
It is no secret that the global retail industry, especially fashion retail, has struggled for sustainable growth over the last decade. In what has been coined as the ‘Retail Apocalypse’, writer Bobby Stephens mentions that industry pundits acknowledge that close to 8 642 retail stores will have to close in North America alone. Propagated by…
Since December — after my brother and I attempted to attend an event thrown by a youth culture/street culture group in collaboration with a youth centred media organisation — I have been replaying and rehashing a certain situation in my mind. The youth/street cultural group claims to represent the youth/streets — it’s run by the…
The Riders of Soweto have arrived. They say this generation is a lost generation, a generation captivated by social media and technology, oblivious to the world around it. A generation that has lost culture, a generation without a sense of community or an appreciation for the outdoors. What they don’t know is that in Soweto,…
Released last week, Nope! , is Sami Schinaia’s solo directorial debut after 10 years as part of the directing duo SÄMEN. Produced by Basement, the short film is said to have been born out of the need to explore and share Schinaia’s most recent and intimate period of his life, during which he explored the…
The Waiting Room is an extremely significant venue in the CPT nightlife space for me, as I have always seen it as a space for BIPOC to have carefree nights. It was a place where I had some of the best nights of my life when I started clubbing and I’m happy to be providing…
‘The writer counted, in the space of only four minutes, 93 native cyclists riding past the Astra theatre,’ wrote a journalist for the Star newspaper in July 1940. Standing almost 80 years later on the same corner of Louis Botha Avenue at the same time and day of the week – 6.30pm on a Monday…
Soul’d Dreams is a striking streetwear brand growing out of Zimbabwe. This interview with founder Tadiwa Mashiri conveys the momentum in fashion as a vehicle of expression; turning away from the forced erasure of the rich cultural and historical tapestry at the hands of white supremacy and colonialism. The past, present and future is African;…
A moment of time captured in a permanent state. Intimate portrayals of fresh-faced youths. Flecks of haziness. A perfect balance of slightly saturated tones is met with vibrancy. Images of nostalgia. Ricardo Simal is a Cape Town based photographer who refined his craft by studying at the Ruth Prowse School of Art. Moving to London…
