The Township.

"I can identify with it. It does not strike me as 'peculiar'. Yet, I still try to avoid being trapped in its hypnotic embrace, which seems to mock my carefully cultivated indifference and self confidence. I feel ambivalent about my ambivalence, embarrassed at my embarrassment." - Santu Mofokeng.

Originally this quote by Santu Mofokeng was directed to townships and people that live in them but rather on people of a certain faith.

I on the other hand found an understanding that I could apply to townships. Many of us that live or have family that still live in the poorest areas of townships are ashamed, embarrassed by it, so we hide it.

We hide it in appearance.

Street Etiquette x Brooklyn Circus and us, the Sartists.

Home.

In a folder titled Appropriated Spaces, Santu Mofokeng once wrote that the notion of 'home' is a fiction we create out of a need to belong, that home is a place where some people have never been to and a place where some people will never arrive at. 

He wrote that home is an appropriated space, and that it does not exist objectively in reality. The week we spent with Art Comes First, Street Etiquette and Ouigi Theodore of Brooklyn circus taught us a lot, and to an extent re-iterated what Mr Santu Mofokeng said about home.

On that saturday of StrCrd, the tennis look saturday we got home happy and the first thing my father said to us was "you guys look like you come from heaven", I don't know what he mean't by that but the understanding we got was, I guess what Santu Mofokeng says, that home(heaven) is a place you don't go or arrive at but rather a place you create.

I don't know.....oh well.

Inspiration. Marcus Garvey.

A people without a knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots - Marcus Garvey.

Travel Etiquette. South Africa.

Thank you to everyone that made Travel Etiquette possibe, from the organizers of StrCrd to InstantGrass. Blessing spending a couple of days with Art Comes First, Ouigi Theodore, Street Etiquette,Bob the Stylist, Grace Ladoja, Kenji Summers, The Smarties and I See A Different You.

Too bad I couldn't get my hands on pictures of everyone, soon though.Will try share more knowledge on details with the next coming posts.

This is love.

Images taken from Street Etiquette and Paul Ward.
www.streetetiquette.com 

StrCrd Day 3.

Wanda Lephoto. Ouigi Theodore and Kabelo Kungwane

Thoughts behind the Tennis look. StrCrd Day 3.

I find myself interested in a gang of 'decadent and hedonistic' artists and writers formed in the mid 19th century called the Aesthetic Movement.
What interests me in this movement is what they believed. They believed that one's taste in all things is paramount, that art held no moral or didactic purpose, but should be simply beautiful, and in a manner reward the viewer with a pleasure solely drawn from aesthetics.

Interesting? Well I think so. Days leading up to StrCrd were exciting but day 3 even more so. I say this because I believe our heads were wrapped around a similar school of thought, a school of thought that can be aligned with that of the Aesthetic Movement, which is "Art for Art's sake".

Simple beauty. Pleasured viewer.

What we wore to StrCrd was an idea. An idea of what we thought we would want to look like if we were tennis players. We wore tennis outfits on that day because 24 hours prior to that day we were inspired. Inspired by beauty and simplicity of tennis. Beauty drawn from Moeti and Lazarus Fume of the Black Photo Album by Santu Mofekeng and tennis racket installations by Ali of A Noble Savage.

Our purpose? Well unlike many of our past conceptual looks and outfits that aimed at challenging socially per-conceived ideas of what people are meant to act and look like, this outfit was different. It was us having fun, entertaining ourselves at an event that was supposed to entertain us...it was us being beautiful and I guess from the response we got, the viewer was rewarded with some pleasure. And to that we are pleased.

So maybe the Aesthetic movement had something going, Art for Art's Sake.

Inspiration. Men. Victorian Era.

Images taken from the Black Photo Album by Santu Mofokeng.

Another Africa x Sartists. Something for uMadala (Old Man).

Not a forgotten face.

Inspiration. Moeti and Lazarus Fume.

Cried seeing this image of Moeti and Lazarus. This image was inspiration to what we wore at StrCrd on the 3rd day. 

Thank you to the photographer that documented this beautiful piece in Black history and Black Fashion, and an even greater thank you to Moeti and Lazarus, that keep inspiring young boys as ourselves.

Still need to do some research on Moeti but what I've seen from Lazarus I have no words for. Style was something he had and if fashion was a love he had, if changing socially pre-conceived ideas of what a Black Man, a poor Black man should look like was something that resided in his mind at times, then all we can say his efforts don't go unnoticed. Love.

Day 2 STRCRD. Sartists

The British look.

Wanda Lephoto and Kabelo Kungwane at StrCrd day 2. This look was inspired by British style and British colors. Kabelo in a classic two piece suit, in his role of a college professor and Wanda in a younger look as a college student.

Much love to Anthea Knows Best and Jamal Nxedlana of Missshape for letting us chill at their stall.

Images taken by Mike Bell of www.mikebellphotography.blogspot.com

STRCRD DAY 1. Sartists x Nicola Cooper

Day 1 StrCrd with our mentor Nicola Cooper. This is love.

Shades of Brown inspired by an image taken of Steve Biko back in his day. Lord knows we love Steve Biko.

Image taken by Mike Bell of Mike Bell photography
http://mikebellphotography.blogspot.com/