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Projects
Here is a small selection of my public work.
The Listening Salon at The Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance
The Listening Salon is a place to have inclusive communal discussions. We are using them to think around the themes of Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance exhibition, hosted by the Fitzwilliam Museum.
The five sessions are facilitated by me, with guest speakers who are intended to provide a scaffolding for the conversation, but not to be the only voices in the room. The aim of the Salon is to mirror the main aims of the exhibition – to provide a wider context to our understanding of British history by rectifying the elision of the Black Atlantic as a significant contributor to modern Britain – and to offer a space for dialogue, reflection and communal interrogation of our responses to the exhibition.
This will provide the opportunity for the community to listen and be heard on their experience of the exhibition and to digest together what the exhibition means for us as a collective. We will address questions from national identity, to how institutions can manage their histories, all the way to conversations about restorative justice. It is intended to be an exercise in working as a community to think through complex and sometimes emotional issues.
The five sessions are facilitated by me, with guest speakers who are intended to provide a scaffolding for the conversation, but not to be the only voices in the room. The aim of the Salon is to mirror the main aims of the exhibition – to provide a wider context to our understanding of British history by rectifying the elision of the Black Atlantic as a significant contributor to modern Britain – and to offer a space for dialogue, reflection and communal interrogation of our responses to the exhibition.
This will provide the opportunity for the community to listen and be heard on their experience of the exhibition and to digest together what the exhibition means for us as a collective. We will address questions from national identity, to how institutions can manage their histories, all the way to conversations about restorative justice. It is intended to be an exercise in working as a community to think through complex and sometimes emotional issues.
What Are You? London (Loading)
Coming soon
What Are You? Cape Town
The debut of "What Are You" in March 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa was, in the words of some attendees, "unlike anything I had experienced before." This evening of interactive theatre, installation artwork, and community discussion invited the audience into a space shared by people representing every ethnic category of an extraordinarily complex city. Presenting to and engaging such a diverse group with a deep history of separation and conflict was delicate and important. I kept telling myself that if I could do it here, I could do it anywhere.
We moved the audience from one space to another and encouraged them to interact with each other in these moments between in order to soften the boundaries when it came time to exchange words. The show began with mingling around an installation of photography and text boards that explained the designs on the textiles– Sankofa and Anamnesis– and the framework for understanding notions of identity, knowledge, and belonging. The middle section was a dance performance of two women, Cleo Darling and Vita Nova, that embodied the conversion, costumed in the textiles that mirrored the themes.
The culmination of the experience was the community dialogue, which was anchored by community elders, artists, a journalist, and the attending public. The discussion ranged from intergenerational issues around South Africa's struggle for majority rule to queer and trans notions of identity and belonging.
This experience was a success by every measure and propelled me towards replicating this experience in other communities. The fact that this approach facilitated a space where such diverse people could feel safe enough to be as vulnerable as they were was an affirmation of the importance of this work. The audience left with a feeling of empowerment and closeness that was not present at the beginning, and this is what I intend for each expression of my work.
Dancers: Cleo Darling and Vita Nova
Photographers: Isak Person and Lukas Kuhne
Text Boards: Thandi Steenkamp
Video and Production: Sean Drummond and Mike Mtsinje
Coordinator: Adam Kent Weist
Music: Derek Gripper edited by Dplanet
Discussion Anchors: Ghadija Vallie, Mandy Sangar, Atiyyah Khan, Nonhlanhla Mditshwa, Adam Kent Weist
We moved the audience from one space to another and encouraged them to interact with each other in these moments between in order to soften the boundaries when it came time to exchange words. The show began with mingling around an installation of photography and text boards that explained the designs on the textiles– Sankofa and Anamnesis– and the framework for understanding notions of identity, knowledge, and belonging. The middle section was a dance performance of two women, Cleo Darling and Vita Nova, that embodied the conversion, costumed in the textiles that mirrored the themes.
The culmination of the experience was the community dialogue, which was anchored by community elders, artists, a journalist, and the attending public. The discussion ranged from intergenerational issues around South Africa's struggle for majority rule to queer and trans notions of identity and belonging.
This experience was a success by every measure and propelled me towards replicating this experience in other communities. The fact that this approach facilitated a space where such diverse people could feel safe enough to be as vulnerable as they were was an affirmation of the importance of this work. The audience left with a feeling of empowerment and closeness that was not present at the beginning, and this is what I intend for each expression of my work.
Dancers: Cleo Darling and Vita Nova
Photographers: Isak Person and Lukas Kuhne
Text Boards: Thandi Steenkamp
Video and Production: Sean Drummond and Mike Mtsinje
Coordinator: Adam Kent Weist
Music: Derek Gripper edited by Dplanet
Discussion Anchors: Ghadija Vallie, Mandy Sangar, Atiyyah Khan, Nonhlanhla Mditshwa, Adam Kent Weist
ZamZam
ZamZam started in my living room in Cape Town with a desire to make clothes that I wanted but could not find anywhere. Cape Town, as a hub for textile manufacturing and distribution in Southern Africa, boasts a vast array of available Dutch wax fabric, which prompted the whole experiment from its inception.
I started off making reversible jackets with bold clashing patterns and colours that were meant to be a statement piece as opposed to daily wear. I soon found however, that the range of opportunities to wear them was far larger than I initially expected. In addition to this, the number of compliments and requests I encountered whenever I wore them really pushed me to think about taking them into serious production. A few days before COVID derailed all of our lives, I had the first photoshoot in partnership with established local, female owned brands, Pichulik jewellery and Margot Molyneux clothing beautiful classic silhouettes with a modern take.
The name ZamZam actually came from my cat, who happens to be the most curious and naughty animal I have ever encountered. Her way of looking at the world as a potential plaything and continuous adventure inspired me to take the same approach with my fabric combinations. The word itself is Arabic and comes from the name of a stream in the desert around Mecca, unearthed by the kicking heels of a thirsty baby as its mother frantically searched for water. Oddly enough, ZamZam the cat was the most aquaphile feline imaginable and so truly embodied that element of her name. To me, the story represents an explosion of life as a result of an unconscious action in the search for something. The brand is very much that and all about the celebration of life, colour, fertility, bounty and the uniquely feminine expression of these things.
The clothing is intended to be a marriage between the traditional vibrant patterns and colours of African prints with a modern wearability beyond those more well known uses and wearers. All of the fabrics I use and 100% natural fibres and so are breathable and easy to care for. They are so versatile and so can be worn with almost anything. I myself have worn them to weddings, an evening out, a club, the ballet, picnics in the park, interviews and meetings as well as just to the shops. Each jacket is one of a kind and handmade, so is a piece of wearable art in addition to all of those other things.
Photographer: Athi Maq
Stylist: Tamryn Bruinders
Art Direction: Sara Ojembarrena
Hair and Makeup: Thandi Steenkamp
Models: Taali M and Jomari Jordaan
I started off making reversible jackets with bold clashing patterns and colours that were meant to be a statement piece as opposed to daily wear. I soon found however, that the range of opportunities to wear them was far larger than I initially expected. In addition to this, the number of compliments and requests I encountered whenever I wore them really pushed me to think about taking them into serious production. A few days before COVID derailed all of our lives, I had the first photoshoot in partnership with established local, female owned brands, Pichulik jewellery and Margot Molyneux clothing beautiful classic silhouettes with a modern take.
The name ZamZam actually came from my cat, who happens to be the most curious and naughty animal I have ever encountered. Her way of looking at the world as a potential plaything and continuous adventure inspired me to take the same approach with my fabric combinations. The word itself is Arabic and comes from the name of a stream in the desert around Mecca, unearthed by the kicking heels of a thirsty baby as its mother frantically searched for water. Oddly enough, ZamZam the cat was the most aquaphile feline imaginable and so truly embodied that element of her name. To me, the story represents an explosion of life as a result of an unconscious action in the search for something. The brand is very much that and all about the celebration of life, colour, fertility, bounty and the uniquely feminine expression of these things.
The clothing is intended to be a marriage between the traditional vibrant patterns and colours of African prints with a modern wearability beyond those more well known uses and wearers. All of the fabrics I use and 100% natural fibres and so are breathable and easy to care for. They are so versatile and so can be worn with almost anything. I myself have worn them to weddings, an evening out, a club, the ballet, picnics in the park, interviews and meetings as well as just to the shops. Each jacket is one of a kind and handmade, so is a piece of wearable art in addition to all of those other things.
Photographer: Athi Maq
Stylist: Tamryn Bruinders
Art Direction: Sara Ojembarrena
Hair and Makeup: Thandi Steenkamp
Models: Taali M and Jomari Jordaan
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