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This episode of Afrimaxx celebrates the continent’s rich culture, from Nigeria’s Ojude Oba Festival, to an artisan collective in Eswatini, to a tour of Nairobi. Your host, Zimingonaphakade Mabunzi, invites you to join.
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00:06It is a night of African elegance as luxury fashion house Lord Pulse debuts at the female-led
00:13Candace Berman Gallery in Rosebank, Johannesburg.
00:16But before I dive into the style, here's what we have for you on today's show.
00:22We see how an artisan accessory brand from Eswatini is turning traditional weaving into
00:28modern elegance and economic opportunity for women.
00:33Discover how Joey Kubutlu left his job as an ad executive to make sustainable furniture
00:39in Johannesburg, South Africa.
00:43Then we go on a tour of Nairobi with visual arts curator Nyambura Waringe.
00:52I am Zemi Ngona Pagate Mabunzi and you're watching AFRIMAX.
01:09So, let's see.
01:11Ojude Oba meaning the King's Forecourt is a colorful Nigerian festival where the ijebu people
01:17come together in honor of their King and celebrate their rich culture.
01:21Take a look.
01:56This year, something different is happening.
02:00A princess, yes, royalty is once again riding into the spotlight.
02:08In the land where tradition has long spoken on behalf of women,
02:12princess is rewriting the narrative.
02:15Choosing to speak for herself with her grace and the power of her horse,
02:19she rides out speaking follow with every gallop.
02:24Now, one may ask, how did she go from the palace hallway to the back of a horse?
02:30Few days ago, I met with princess during a rehearsal. Let's find out.
02:34Good morning, princess.
02:36Morning.
02:37How are you doing today?
02:38I'm very well, thank you.
02:39Great.
02:39And you?
02:40I'm fine as you can see. I'm enjoying the weather of course.
02:43Great.
02:43Wow. So what name do you call this?
02:45It's O-O-1.
02:46O-O-1. Why O-O-1?
02:50Because it's literally one of the most, if not the best,
02:53behaved horse in the whole of Ijehuland.
02:57I'm pretty sure a lot of people will want to know,
02:59how did you become a horse rider?
03:01Oh, fantastic question.
03:04O-O-Jubba made me a horse rider.
03:06Let's start from there.
03:07But I've always loved horse riding from when I was a kid.
03:11But you know our parents are overprotective and then they will say,
03:15Oh no, don't do this. You're going to fall off. You're going to do this.
03:18And I've always wanted to ride to Olujubba as a kid.
03:21But my dad would always say, Oh, prince and princesses don't ride to Olujubba.
03:24You're meant to sit down and let the Balogos and the Eleshins come and do their thing.
03:29So we don't have a choice. We have to accept.
03:31And how did you start it?
03:33So one of my uncles also loves horse riding and he's been doing it to Olujubba.
03:39So I just decided to join them.
03:41Oh, okay. And your first experience, how was it like?
03:44It's being selfish.
03:45I'm not meant to say it, but yeah, I need to say it so I can encourage other people.
03:49The first time I climbed on horseback, I fell.
03:52Wow.
03:53Like I wasn't even seated properly. The horse just did this and I fell.
03:57Wow.
03:58My first ever time. But that didn't discourage me.
04:00I still climbed and I rode all the way from my family house to the palace
04:05and back to the family house on horseback the same day.
04:08This will be my first year that I'll be doing stunts in Olujubba.
04:11Like the horse rearing, the dancing. It's something I've been practicing for a while.
04:16So yeah, expect that and maybe more.
04:20Today is Olujubba festival and the streets are alive.
04:23You can feel the energy, music, colour and the smell of food fill the air.
04:30Every corner welcomes you with something unique.
04:33A glimpse, a rhythm and an heartbeat of the festival.
04:36The gongong, the talking drum, calls out like it's saying, welcome home.
04:40This is more than a festival. It is a celebration of tradition and culture.
04:46I'm here to join Princess at her family house as she prepares for the festival.
04:50Today I'm wearing Black Ajojo 007.
04:53And it's specifically designed for me for Olujubba to showcase royalty.
05:00As you can see, the horses and the riders are ready and it is time for parade. Let's go there.
05:06So guys, look over there. Those are the horse riders.
05:09Now let me give you a quick rundown of what is happening here today at the Olujubba festival.
05:15Over 30 families are riding in this year festival.
05:19All to honour the king, the Awujale of Ijebu Ode land.
05:25What makes Olujubba special from other festivals that we have in Nigeria?
05:28I think it's because of the pop of colours, the horse riding, the reggae, reggae display.
05:34You know, that's one time where everybody bring their A-game out.
05:38Everybody wants to wear their new glasses. Everybody wants to wear their new jewelry.
05:41So the fashion, the pop of colour, people love it.
05:44I don't just want Ijebu to be on Nigeria map or just on the map.
05:48I want people to see Ijebu through my lens. It's like, ah, this is beautiful.
05:53People are doing this and they would also want to experience it.
05:57Wow, I must be honest with you. I'm finding it very difficult to wrap up this report.
06:02The sight, the sand and the horse riding.
06:05The energy from this festival is out of this world.
06:14Well, we do love a good fashion show, which is why I am so excited to be here today
06:19at 223 Young Smarts Creative Hub Johannesburg.
06:23I'm here with founder and creative director Musisiwes Luanyana,
06:26whose vision behind it all is as captivating as the looks on display.
06:31Musi, can you tell us a bit more about the inspiration behind this brand?
06:34The inspiration behind the brand comes from me growing up, you know,
06:40and seeing my mother sew her clothes on the dining room table.
06:46And that inspired me a lot. And she used to be a good dresser as well.
06:50So as I was growing up, I was looking up to her.
06:53Collections really are based on dressing the boardroom.
06:57It doesn't necessarily mean that you need to be incorporated.
07:00You could be an entrepreneur, you could be a creative as well,
07:05who wants to look elegant, timeless, chic,
07:10but also with the African luxury in what you are wearing.
07:13So at Lord Pulse, we're just bringing African luxury into the boardroom.
07:18And that's what inspires all our collections.
07:21And also to make sure that we're able to dress that woman as well outside of their workwear.
07:27We understand that you're showcasing both old and new collections.
07:31Tell us more about that.
07:32Yes. So Lord Pulse started in 2019, just before COVID.
07:37So after running for these couple of years post-COVID,
07:42we want to now to officially launch Lord Pulse to the public.
07:48What we've seen so far looks stunning.
07:50I cannot wait to see more.
07:54In the heart of Eswadini,
07:56Coco Collection blends ancestral basket weaving techniques into trendy handbags.
08:01This is Craft with Heritage and Hope.
08:06All over the world, bags and handbags in particular are inseparably linked to their wearer.
08:13Simple and practical versions that can carry shopping or other mysterious items
08:18are humorously known as granny bags.
08:20They can be simple or intricate.
08:23And this handbag collective in Eswadini has looked to basket making to make something special.
08:30That makes me proud of being an Eswadini,
08:35who can make something that will be known around the world.
08:40And also it will just make people know much about Eswadini.
08:44And also the product that came from Eswadini, just boom.
08:48We had one of our bags, Tembi.
08:52It's a Tembi bag.
08:53It was on Vogue magazine.
08:56And the love we put when making the bags, I think, also added value on the bags.
09:03The original design for these bags was inspired by how rural women in Eswadini
09:07were making woven baskets and mats.
09:11Product designer and developer, Philippa Thorne,
09:13had been working with master weaver Zintle Vilekati on a basket weaving project.
09:18In 2014, they started experimenting with techniques to showcase high value weaving.
09:25Why did they want to expand from baskets to bags?
09:29We started thinking that people have much of the homeware, like the baskets and the placements.
09:38And we also need to keep the women doing more work so that they can do something that people will
09:46buy more also.
09:48Besides that, we were inspired about on weaving.
09:52Like, I always say I'm more than 50 techniques, so I can make a bag today,
09:57but next time I can make something else.
10:00The difference between a bag and a basket is that the bag is more refined,
10:06so the coin is less, more, smaller than the basket.
10:10High value handbags would mean that the weavers would earn more.
10:14I really saw how in Europe craftsmanship was really highly valued as beautiful for its artwork,
10:22for its skill, for the heritage and culture and the stories that it told.
10:26And I really felt like sometimes the weaving here wasn't respected in the same way that it really deserved to
10:34be.
10:34And really being able to create something that would give the women a living wage,
10:39would be able to kind of elevate weaving in the eyes of global, you know, audience really.
10:45But how did they overcome the practical challenges of designing functional handbags?
10:52This bag, the Zinthe, was actually the first bag we ever made,
10:57and it was quite a process to develop it.
11:00So it actually was over the period of about a year,
11:02from first developing the weaving side and then also the leather side.
11:07You know, in terms of the leather, we worked with an NGO called Nest.
11:11I reached out to them and I said, you know, I'm looking for someone with expertise in handbag design.
11:16And that's how we got introduced to our third partner, Sapna Shah.
11:21And then her, myself and Zinthe embarked on this journey, you know,
11:25to kind of transform the placemats into these beautiful, you know, fully lined leather bags.
11:34What the three of us share in common is our values.
11:39And we all had very strong matriarchal influences in our life.
11:44Sapna had been working in a more corporate environment.
11:47And when she went back to India and she visited her grandmother,
11:50her grandmother basically showed her all the saris, the hand-woven saris she collected.
11:56And that really sparked her passion for hand artisan work.
12:00And then Zinthe, you know, learning from her mother and her grandmother,
12:04she'd always been passionate about it.
12:06Myself, I was very inspired by my granny.
12:09She always had like piles of beaded jewelry and extravagant hats.
12:13So I think she kind of really sparked my interest in fashion,
12:16which kind of led me down this road of studying fashion and then coming out to Eswatini.
12:21The basket and wicker product market was valued at $585 million in 2023.
12:28But the artisans who harvest the grass and weave the products usually don't earn much
12:33unless the weaving and product design is exceptional.
12:38Cocoa Collection has been intentional about protecting the environment
12:42while empowering the lives of the women weavers they work with.
12:46How have they done this?
12:48We have a close partnership with Gone Rural.
12:50They're the ones who work with the women who conduct the annual harvest
12:55and they also color the grass fuzz.
12:57So on a sustainability side, we really want to keep working with natural fibers
13:04and also that, you know, something that's biodegradable.
13:07So, you know, once people are finished with our bags,
13:09we're not leaving a footprint on the environment.
13:15But what are the possibilities for growth within the current production model?
13:19We will always focus on in terms of growth is, you know, product innovation
13:23and, you know, working with different weaving techniques and different natural materials.
13:29We're always on the lookout for, you know, green alternatives for some of the components we use.
13:35I mean, I'm following with great interest alternatives to leather, for example,
13:39and that's something we would like to incorporate in the future
13:42as there become more of those on the market.
13:45So maybe we should all take time to slow down and look at how grandma still does it.
13:52Instead of fast throwaway fashion, how could we impact the world
13:57if we shifted to classic, timeless styles that make the world a better place?
14:07You have got to love South Africa's diverse fashion scene.
14:10From kasi street style to bold traditional prints, we have seen it all.
14:16But tonight we saw a more refined take on local fashion.
14:19And now I'm about to go catch up with some of the people who saw tonight's runway show.
14:25So Karabo, interesting thing about you, you are already wearing the brand.
14:29What exactly do you love about this brand?
14:32And perhaps maybe about the outfit that you're wearing today?
14:35I like that it amplifies who I am.
14:38I'm print, I'm colour, I'm lively, I'm style.
14:42So I could find myself in the collection.
14:46You know, because they dress different people, different tastes.
14:49So then I could find what I like.
14:55Miss MC, I see you're also wearing Lorde Pals today.
14:58Yes, I am.
14:59I'm actually dressed up in the overjoyed pants and jacket,
15:03which is part of one of their signature collections at Lorde Pals.
15:06So I'm excited.
15:07It feels, I feel elegant.
15:08I feel sophisticated.
15:09And I think that's what the brand stands for.
15:12Listen, tough choice.
15:13But what piece was your favourite today?
15:17Very tough choice indeed.
15:19I'm going to have to pick two.
15:22The Fearless Lady ensemble.
15:24It's this black and orange ensemble.
15:27The black, yeah, with the black coats, with the lace on it.
15:30I would definitely wear that.
15:33And I have to say the very last outfits on the runway.
15:36It's extravagant.
15:38It's amazing.
15:39I love it.
15:40Absolutely stunning.
15:41Listen, the first collection was absolutely amazing.
15:44Can we go see the second one now?
15:46Okay.
15:50After 20 years in advertising, Joey Kabudu made a bold move into furniture design.
15:57Now he's building a brand that puts African heritage at the centre of everyday living.
16:02Let's see what that looks like.
16:05What's your idea of good furniture?
16:08If it's eye-catching, long-lasting and well-priced, then maybe this man's designs are for you.
16:14I'm a lover of all things design.
16:16I'm a trained designer, but a graphic designer.
16:19So all my life I've loved spaces, I've loved well-designed products and so forth.
16:24But I've found myself not finding the furniture that I loved at accessible price points.
16:30Meet Joey Kabudu.
16:32He spent pretty much his entire career in advertising.
16:35And now he's a self-taught designer on a mission to make good design accessible and to put African heritage
16:41on the map as well.
16:43I grew up with the fortune of doing a lot of travelling and moving around Sub-Saharan Africa in particular.
16:50Being an African and consuming African culture, be it spaces, music, fashion and so forth,
17:01influences my design.
17:03It cannot not influence my design.
17:05One of the things that's very, very common with our pieces is the fact that you hardly see any sharp
17:10corners in our designs.
17:12And I think that comes from the fact that within African traditional craft making, we're always making things by hand,
17:22carving wood by hand.
17:24And if you're doing stuff by hand, you're never going to have any sharp corners or very sharp right angles.
17:28The other thing as well is, if you go into traditional African spaces, specifically like in the village and stuff
17:36like that, the furniture or what we use as furniture is quite low to the ground.
17:40So we sit on the floor, our beds are low to the floor and so forth.
17:44So you'll see across our furniture, a lot of the stuff is very low to the ground.
17:49The reason that we do that is that as African people, even just indigenous cultures around the world,
17:54the practice of being connected to the ground is quite important, of earthing ourselves.
17:59The intention hasn't been, I'm doing it because it's African.
18:02It's been organic.
18:04You know, the stuff that I'm drawn to when I design a piece, how I refine the piece is refined
18:10because of my experience, of my lived experience.
18:13Much of South Africa's furniture is imported from China, but it's not everyone's cup of tea.
18:19Joey's furniture appeals to the middle class market, looking for high end, locally produced furniture without breaking the bank.
18:27I think that our middle class is stretched financially, but they are still aspirational.
18:33And at the time I was still in the corporate space.
18:36But even being in the corporate space, being very well employed as a senior executive,
18:42I found that beautifully made pieces of furniture were incredibly expensive.
18:48What makes these pieces more in reach for young buyers?
18:51A key intervention that we employ that allows us to achieve what we're trying to do in making the furniture
18:58accessible is the material that we use.
19:00The biggest, well, one of the biggest costs is the material that we use.
19:03And we specifically use pine plywood.
19:07It's where they layer pieces of wood and compress them together.
19:11Now, pine plywood isn't typically associated with the designer furniture.
19:16It's typically used for container ships and for building and stuff like that.
19:21But we saw the opportunity in this material because it's very, very strong.
19:24It's incredibly durable.
19:26So rather than using solid wood, which is what's typically used in high end furniture,
19:31we opted for pine plywood, which is a cheaper material.
19:34But at the same time, its characteristics are that of hardwood.
19:41For Joey, it's about storytelling through design and not just form and function.
19:50One of the things that we do as well is all of our product names are named in indigenous African
19:58languages,
19:59whether Swahili, Shona, even Arabic and so forth, just to tell the story of the continent in some shape or
20:07form,
20:08you know, and also to be obvious about the story that we're trying to tell.
20:11They're not just African languages because I'm South African, but for the continent,
20:15because our aspiration is to be on the continent and not just to be in South Africa alone.
20:20This is called the Moyo coffee table as part of the Moyo collection.
20:26And the reason why it's called Moyo is because Moyo is the sepedi name for the boobab tree.
20:32You know, the African boobab tree have got these massive big trunks.
20:37They're considered spiritual trees and they were so big that people also lived inside them
20:41because they could be hollow at times.
20:42These very, very thick legs are an ode to that, reminiscent of that, of this very thick, very rooted structure
20:52that we see in nature.
20:54And essentially what this range does, it attempts to mimic that.
20:58Joey's designs show us that beauty, heritage and accessibility can live in the same space.
21:04And that good design is meaningful design.
21:07Our last stop is Nairobi, where visual curator Nyambura Waringe takes us through the city's bustling creative pulse.
21:14Let's join her and see more.
21:17Hello, I'm Nyambura Waringe. I'm a visual arts curator.
21:21We're here in Nairobi, the capital of my country, Kenya.
21:25Nairobi, with an estimated population of over five million people, is an energetic place.
21:32It is also one of Africa's fastest growing cities.
21:36In just over a century, Nairobi has transformed from a modest railway depot to vibrant metropolis,
21:43an economic and cultural habit in East Africa.
21:47Away from the busy streets, this city boasts lush highland terrain and the savannah that houses our famous wildlife parks.
21:59In stark contrast to those natural wonders is Mavare, one of the largest informal settlements in sub-Saharan Africa,
22:07home to almost half a million people.
22:10In the late 1800s, Kenya was known as British East Africa.
22:15And the traces of this colonial past are all over Nairobi.
22:21Kenya became independent from Britain in 1963.
22:27These days, Nairobi has a cutting edge contemporary art scene that sits side by side with more traditional creative legacies.
22:39All of this makes Nairobi an exciting cultural destination that reflects a rich past.
22:47My country has an ancient history of trade with other Indian Ocean cultures.
22:51And so, we are a multicultural nation with competing viewpoints.
22:57The shows I curate offer a perspective on the complex identities that Kenyans are embracing.
23:07Together with curator Don Handa, I created a show called Found Footage.
23:15I would love to show you one of my first exhibitions, Found Footage.
23:20Found Footage looks at two photographers, one Kenyan, one Iranian-German.
23:28The Found Footage show featured the work of Mahdi Esaie, who documented Afro-Iranian communities through photographs.
23:44The Found Footage exhibition also profiled the work of Nairobi photographer Migwen Thiga, who captures coastal Kenyan communities.
23:58By featuring these two photographers, this exhibition explored questions around the identities of Africans in Indian Ocean communities.
24:08In this exhibition in Found Footage, I really looked at also getting archival footage.
24:14And this also is set up so that people interact.
24:17One of the goals of being a curator for me is how does the public engage with the work?
24:23How do they live and leave the space engaged, enlightened and with new visions?
24:31Another exhibition I'd love to tell you about is 27.
24:34And I was brought in as a curator to catalyze a discussion around not only gay and lesbian human rights,
24:42but the rights of freedom in our country.
24:45Section 27 of the Kenyan constitution speaks of the right to equal protection before the law.
24:50And with this exhibition, I explored how this applies to the LGBTQI plus community who are criminalized in Kenya.
25:07My next big show was Norma XR, which showcased six artists working with virtual reality experiences.
25:15The XR experience Norma brought everything together for me as a curator.
25:19How I wanted to engage with the public deeply over different types of technologies.
25:24More importantly, Norma was experimentation.
25:29So there you have it. I've introduced you to some of my favorite children.
25:34How about you come and join me in Nairobi, the capital of my country, Kenya.
25:38And that is it for tonight.
25:40We hope that you enjoyed the show.
25:42I'm about to go mingle now, but do hit us up on our socials.
25:45And until next time, goodbye.
26:07Bye.
26:08Bye.