- 2 days ago
Africa's Artistic Souls
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:07Today, we're coming to you from Zambia's capital, Lusaka, a buzzing modern metropolis.
00:13Today, we're plunging into the heart of its artistic soul at the Zambian Art and Design
00:18Show.
00:18But first, we meet Senegalese fashion designer Khadija Bar, known as the most stylish woman
00:26in Dakar.
00:28Travel across borders looking at some quirky accommodation options in Clarence, South
00:33Africa.
00:34Then, artist Osaru Obaseki shows us how she shapes sand, drones, and history into powerful
00:42expressions of Benin's past in Nigeria.
00:47I am Suse, and you're watching AfriMax.
01:04Originally from Ghana, dancer Isaac Kiere found his voice through cramp.
01:09Now, he blends his African heritage with modern moves all the way from Berlin.
01:16When Isaac Kiere, a Berlin-based dancer, choreographer, and fitness coach invites people to work out
01:22in the park, there's an energetic African vibe in the air.
01:26This is no surprise, as the fitness program he developed, called Afroletics, combines African
01:32dance moves, with African beats.
01:39Afroletics is a fitness concept that I developed.
01:43It's a combination of dance, interval, and cardio training based on African rhythms.
01:47It's really about getting people to dance and sweat.
01:54Segments of the workout derive from various African dance styles, such as Ndombolo, Amapiano,
01:59and Afrohaus.
02:03The first dance style, Ndombolo, is from the Congo.
02:07The defining characteristic of Ndombolo, is the hip movement.
02:11You must always keep a light stance in this squatting position.
02:18The next dance style is Amapiano, originating from South Africa.
02:24My brother Dennis will demonstrate it.
02:28Notice the lightness.
02:32We also say...
02:34The aim is not to sweat.
02:38And finally, Afrohaus, originates from Angola, and is based on very quick footwork patterns.
02:44First, we have Abria.
02:47Okay, and then you can do it.
02:54That's very crazy, yeah.
02:58Isaac is very busy.
02:59In 2020, he published his African Dance Dictionary, an online dictionary for African dance styles.
03:05The steps and their historical origins are explained in videos, along with practicing instructions.
03:14When you Google the history of Ndombolo, or of Afrohaus, for instance, you find very little information.
03:21And I wanted to be the one to change this because I'm from Africa.
03:27I want to help people who appreciate our culture, and simply want to learn more about it.
03:35Isaac is a successful dancer and choreographer.
03:39He collaborates with renowned artists and serves as an entertainer and content creator, boasting over 11 million followers on TikTok.
03:46His videos also feature celebrities such as American singer Jason Derulo and Nigerian singer Tiba Savage.
03:54But he has worked hard for his success.
03:58Isaac was born in Ghana in 1991.
04:01When he was four, he and his family moved to Germany, starting in the city of Duisburg.
04:06After the sudden death of his mother, his father relocated him and his two brothers to Berlin-Neukölln, a neighborhood
04:12known for its social challenges.
04:19Even though we never had much money, we still did well because we had each other.
04:25So okay, mum's not here anymore.
04:27Then dad is here.
04:29And he'll look after us somehow.
04:34We just need to make sure we don't mess it up and keep moving forward.
04:41Isaac started dancing at this youth center.
04:44As a teenager, he spent several hours a day here with his brothers and friends.
04:48They danced hip-hop and crumping, an expressive African-American dance style that originated in the United States in the
04:55early 2000s.
05:01Dancing is a form of freedom.
05:04Meaning every time you come home from school and you weren't in a cool mood, you came here and met
05:10up with your second family, trained together and developed new moves, which always gave you a sense of fulfillment.
05:19In 2006, Isaac and his brothers won the German Crumping Championship, marking the birth of the M.I.K. family.
05:26M.I.K. stands for Monsters in Crump and Mindset is Key.
05:31Isaac also earned individual titles including Best Dancer, alongside completing his master's degree in Industrial Engineering.
05:41I could never have imagined that I would one day reach this point, having started from such a difficult situation,
05:48and now standing alongside such international names on the world's stages.
05:53Back to the athletics workout.
05:55The sweat-inducing fitness program lasts around an hour.
05:59How did the participants like it?
06:02It's fun, but exhausting.
06:04You can really see the passion.
06:06It's cool.
06:09It's suitable for beginners, too.
06:11If you feel it, you can do it.
06:12It was cool.
06:15Isaac has registered the name of his workout, Afroletics, as a trademark.
06:19And his dream is...
06:22That Afroletics becomes a global movement, that it is danced all over the world, and that the same energy, like
06:29here at the Mauer Park, will spread worldwide.
06:35African rhythms are in Isaac's blood.
06:37His workout is not just about fitness, but also about enjoying life.
06:44Can you feel it?
06:47Yes!
06:51The Zambian Arts and Design Show is more than just a marketplace.
06:56This bi-annual showcase, lighting up June and November, serves as a major force shaping Zambia's design landscape.
07:03I am here with coordinator Nancy Matambo.
07:06Hi, Nancy.
07:06How are you doing?
07:07I'm good.
07:07How are you?
07:08I am fantastic.
07:09Lovely show you've put together.
07:11Thank you so much.
07:11Thank you for coming.
07:13Okay.
07:13So for somebody that's hearing of ZADS for the first time, how long has ZADS been in existence?
07:17ZADS has been in existence for, this is year 18.
07:21Wow.
07:22And it started out as a very small show in the backyard of Sugarbush Garden, with only six vendors.
07:30Wow.
07:30Now look at the people here.
07:32From one small show once a year, to two shows a year, and 130 vendors, and with attendance for about
07:393,600 people.
07:40That's incredible.
07:41How did the idea come about?
07:43Well, the idea came about to promote local, to promote local producers and bring in more artisans to develop the
07:51Zambian talent, the creative industry in Zambia.
07:53So how do you also choose the amazing art and designs from across Africa for the show?
07:58We do a call out for vendors, but I also do personal scouting, where I see the potential, somebody who's
08:04got the potential, the talent is there, the skill, design direction, and expose them now to the market.
08:12And from out of Africa, the interest has come from also the reputation of the show has had.
08:18So we've had people who are now calling from Malawi, we've got a vendor from Malawi, we've got a lot
08:24of vendors from Zimbabwe, they've been coming for a few years, and they've been coming back each year.
08:27How does ZADS help ZADS artists?
08:29Some of them are, you know, starting out as home cottage industries, without shops, so it gives them the exposure
08:35for people to get to know them.
08:36So a lot of them grow out of the show.
08:39Some of them end up opening their own shops, quite a few of them, and some of them, it helps
08:43them get into retail shops.
08:44Okay, Nancy, thank you so much, and we're going to continue our chat a little bit later.
08:48Okay.
08:52Senegalese fashion designer Khadija Bar is all about giving retro designs a new twist, including the iconic bobo.
08:59Take a look.
09:02Khadija Bar is busy stitching up a revolution.
09:06In her quest to bring back the golden age of Senegalese style, she is revolutionizing the traditional booboo.
09:16But this, I think, coming from my grandma, she used to come, like, to ceremony, wearing, like, booboo and fur
09:22or something like that.
09:23So I think fashion has always been into me, because I used to make my clothes and my accessories.
09:31But back in the days, you know, my cousin or, like, my friends used to say that I'm goofy.
09:36I used to wear, like, big accessories.
09:38I used to wear, like, a lot of bracelets.
09:40I used to wear, like, big necklace and everything.
09:43Let's find out why Senegalese most stylish woman, who studied business law and luxury brand management in France, has made
09:52old man fashion hipstable in Dakar.
09:55I have my, I call it a cultural slap when I was in France, actually.
10:00I went to a manufacturer, a manufacturer du sec, and the guy said, oh, this is luxury because it's handmade.
10:08And I said, no, it's not.
10:10I've never had that perception that it was, like, luxury.
10:15A year after returning to Dakar and acclimatizing, she started tinkering with the idea of stitching her story into the
10:22fabric of her country.
10:24Lati's son was born.
10:26Her chosen weapon?
10:28The booboo, a classic piece of the Senegalese dressing, which she believes is a time capsule that allows those who
10:36wear it to relieve their childhood
10:38and remind them of times they used to dream of the future.
10:43I think that fashion has always been my thing since I'm a kid.
10:48For me, like, design is also playful.
10:50So maybe it's the playful part and the tradition part who made them interesting.
10:55I used to wear my grandpa's booboo and I am a lot, I don't know, I'm a lot, like, obsessed
11:06by embroidery.
11:07I used to not think that handmade was luxury, so I think it's important for the future generation to know
11:14that handmade is luxury.
11:16Handmade takes time.
11:17Handmade is important.
11:19It's not because it's made in Medina that it's not, like, luxury.
11:23I wanted to show people the value of things, the value of a fabric, the value of keeping tradition alive.
11:32This is why you have, like, that handmade, handcrafted part in my work, to keep the tradition alive.
11:39L'artisan is made in Dakar, made in Senegal, made in Africa.
11:42It's important to have, like, a maison mère, like, the house of L'artisan here in Senegal, even though you
11:51would have, like, L'artisan in Lagos or Johannesburg.
11:55Her designs fly off the shelf, not just to clients in the capital, but to other capitals around the world,
12:03from Lagos to New York, Paris, and even Sydney.
12:07I've never imagined that my clothes or my boo-boos, even though it's not Naomi Campbell, people are going to
12:14like it because people used to say that I'm goofy, she's awkward, things like that.
12:19When Lupita or Naomi wear the boo-boos, they wear, like, a part, like, one part of Senegal, one part
12:26of Africa.
12:27I'm very grateful for it.
12:29And sometimes I'm also, like, I have, like, mixed opinions.
12:33Even Africans, they need, also, people, like, they need, like, celebrities to wear a brand to assume it.
12:41Because, for example, the camouflage boo-boo, like, it was been here, like, for three years, nobody wear it.
12:46And then when Naomi wear it, it, like, ooh, it's sold out.
12:50So it's also a question, like, to know why we need, like, validation.
12:55As Hadidja plays with ideas, patterns, and different cuts, she uses her creations as a statement, championing for Africa, its
13:06story, its resilience, and its products, with one clear message, to stay fierce and unapologetic.
13:22Back to you, Nancy.
13:24Yes.
13:24Okay, do you think ZADS has had some influence on the design landscape in Zambia?
13:29It definitely has, because it's challenging.
13:31The designers are coming with new designs, they are being bought, and customers, it challenges them to bring the next
13:37designs for customers, and they're hence building the Made in Zambia brands.
13:41Yeah, that's fantastic.
13:43Are there any hot exhibitors to look out for this year's show?
13:46He's right here.
13:48Ah, welcome.
13:49This is Rudolf Gems.
13:50Fantastic.
13:56So, welcome to Rudolf Gems.
13:59Rudolf is a Zambian-based company, Zambian-owned, and everything that we're cutting is Zambian.
14:07Rudolf himself, myself, I've been cutting stones for 17 years, locally trained, and what you see is born out of
14:16precision cutting of the love of Zambian emeralds, especially.
14:20But I'm a lover of all Zambian gemstones.
14:23We love cutting Zambian gemstones because we are trying to change the narrative.
14:29Most people don't think that Zambians can cut, especially precision cutting.
14:33So we are doing precision cutting from cabochons to faceted gemstones.
14:43Thank you so much for your time, Nancy.
14:45Thank you for your time.
14:46Thank you for coming.
14:51We're now joining Sita Batso Khomari, who figures a holiday in Clarence, South Africa, is just a thing, but she's
14:58not settling for ordinary.
15:01For most Africans, going on holiday means going home.
15:05But what if we could offer you three unique places to get away from the bustle that I promise will
15:11surprise and delight you?
15:15I hate to admit it, but family reunions can be pretty exhausting.
15:19Where can you recharge your soul?
15:21I'll show you.
15:25Just a quick hour and a bit drive outside of Maseru on the South African side of the border is
15:32the picturesque village of Clarence.
15:34And to properly recharge, I'm going to need a place to sleep.
15:38We're going to start our adventure to explore some of the quirkiest holiday spots to be found in our backyard.
15:47Kicking off my quirky list, I found something that's cute, full of history and perfect for a weekend getaway with
15:54my besties.
15:55Perfect for a solo trip, but with accommodation for four, this is the ideal place for a girls' trip.
16:01Round the corner from the Clarence Town Square is Clarence House.
16:05What started off as a tiny mud-built garage being one of the first buildings in Clarence has been redesigned
16:12and expanded into this tiny self-catering unit that accommodates four.
16:21Small and functional, doesn't have to be tight and uncomfortable.
16:25In fact, this place is perfect for just me.
16:34I almost forgot, I promised to show you some more quirky options.
16:38What else is on the list?
16:46Our next quirky accommodation option is enough to make anyone feel like a princess.
16:53Welcome to Clarence Castle.
16:56There are two main fairytale-like options here.
16:59The question is, which princess do you feel like?
17:03Both options are decadently opulent.
17:06Just being here makes me want to swoon and ring a bell for a butler and a million maids to
17:12come and fan me with a peacock feather or something.
17:14While I sip on endless cocktails while having a massage.
17:18And can someone bring me a ball gown?
17:25You could be Rapunzel waiting from her ivory tower for Prince Charming to come and rescue her from boredom or
17:31whatever lonely princesses and towers do.
17:34For me, keep the world away and write.
17:37Perfect.
17:40Or you can stay in Aladdin's palace.
17:43This one appeals to the adventurer in me.
17:46Don't tell anyone, but I've been sitting on the different carpets trying to see if one of them will fly.
17:51Swoosh.
17:54Oh, this is self-catering accommodation.
17:57You can't possibly blame me for getting carried away.
18:00What's next?
18:04What's next?
18:06And if you thought that the castle was out of a dream, or you're the kind of person who loves
18:11the call of the open road, our next quirky accommodation option is just down your street.
18:21How about a night in a gypsy wagon?
18:23And no, you don't have to hitch your horse to it for an adventure.
18:27Come on, let's explore.
18:30Quirky, cute, and the perfect couple or singles getaway, Clarence's Gypsy Guest House has four gypsy wagons and one gypsy
18:40-themed camper van, offering an amazing alternative to conventional glamping.
18:44From the outside, each uniquely designed and crafted caravan looks like a fortune teller awaits you inside.
18:52But when you open the door, they are delightfully intimate with modern amenities such as a microwave, bar fridge, and
19:00Wi-Fi.
19:01So why would you want to stay in any of these quirky places?
19:05I can think of so many reasons, but top of my list, life's an adventure, so why do ordinary?
19:12If you're like me and your holiday accommodation isn't just a place you come to shower and sleep after a
19:18busy day of doing stuff,
19:20then you'll appreciate the uniqueness of each of these three venues I showed you today.
19:28I hope you had as much fun as I did, but don't tell my mom that I'm glad I chose
19:33to take a break away from home.
19:35My only challenge is I still don't know where I'm going to sleep.
19:42We are now off to Benin, Nigeria, to meet an artist who uses bronze and sand to bring African stories
19:49to light in the most beautiful way.
19:54In a world where art constantly evolves, how do you honour the past while shaping the future?
20:01Let's find out how Osaru Obbaseki preserves the Nigerian bronze-making art in modern times.
20:08I'm more of an experimental artist, and a lot of my work is based off of my medium and materiality,
20:15the way I use materials.
20:17I started experimenting with clay, started experimenting with making sculptures,
20:21and which other medium to, you know, make those sculptures in, if not bronze.
20:26The technique of casting bronze using the lost wax technique is not traditionally practiced by women in Benin,
20:33and Osaru Obbaseki has thus created a niche for herself in the contemporary art scene.
20:39The artist who was born in Edo state consciously fuses the old with the modern in her works
20:44and explores themes such as identity, heritage, and social change.
20:49Historically, like, Benin women weren't allowed to cast bronze from, like, the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th century in Benin.
21:00Currently, I think I'm one of the young female creatives whose work I am in bronze.
21:06I am on a residency program for a couple of weeks to interrogate with the Benin Kingdom collections back at
21:16the museum
21:16and create a contemporary outlook.
21:20So I'm currently using the Luxwas process of bronze casting to create my work here.
21:26The bronze casting technique in Benin uses sand, which, for Osaru, is a special feature of the ancient process.
21:33After making some traditional sculptures, she began to experiment and introduced acrylic to the process.
21:40The process of bronze casting is actually very tedious
21:44because you go through a lot of processes before getting to, like, your finished bronze cast.
21:51And first of all, modelling with clay to create your design.
21:58Then you go in with your silicone, which is supposed to take the imprint of the design you've created.
22:06And then with the silicone, you create a mould, which you're supposed to take your second core print.
22:12With the wax, that's when you do your third pouring with your POP.
22:17So as contemporary artists, or I as a contemporary artist, I use the POP as a mould.
22:27And traditionally, the Ygon bronze casters use the same red earth as taking their mould and core.
22:34For the wax, you could use bee wax or candle wax, depends on how you're detailing, the kind of detailing
22:41you want on your work.
22:42Then for glass, I think my first contact with using glass was during my residency in Venice, in Italy.
22:49So that was the very first time I found out that you can actually cast glass.
22:54When I came in contact with the medium glass, I wanted to experiment, as somebody who likes experimenting a lot.
23:03And I already had models, already on ground.
23:06So I was like, okay, I could as well just cast them in glass.
23:09And that is how I went into glass casting as well.
23:12Osaru's aim was never to recreate the Bini bronzes, but rather to find out how heritage shapes contemporary African identity.
23:21Which is why the lengthy, traditional process is an indispensable part of her work.
23:28In terms of having like creative blocks, I think that is very normal and regular.
23:34And it's always there for artists.
23:36Sometimes you want to get clay.
23:39The clay is not usually readily available.
23:41And that also extends to materials like bronze as well.
23:47Sometimes, even the price of bronze has caricatured over time.
23:51And sometimes, when you need bronze to work, they are not available.
23:57Although Osaru's sculptures and paintings appear modern, they carry a hint of retrospective.
24:04She achieves this impression, for example, through the stylization of the faces.
24:08To what extent does her work thus challenge misconceptions about African art?
24:14Preserving African heritage through bronze casting and even through my sand paintings,
24:23they are both quite important to me because of posterity's sake for the people who are going to come after
24:32us.
24:33For people who will be in my shoes in the future to wanting to have a sense of identity
24:40and wanting to find themselves and going back to their roots,
24:44they should have materials they can go back to in understanding who they are.
24:49So that's why it's quite important.
24:51This is one of my bronze pieces.
24:53This is also part of the wall series because you can see the wall lines around the coats he's wearing.
25:01So biblically, when you hear about the coat of many colors,
25:05I use that as an inspiration to create this piece.
25:08So this is called the coat of many lines.
25:10It's referring to the binning walls.
25:12The idea of transformation is at the heart of Osaru's work.
25:17Her sculptures often depict fragmented forms that symbolize the ruptures caused by colonialism,
25:23social change and identity struggles.
25:25But there is also a sense of healing in her work,
25:29a piecing together of the broken, a reinterpretation of wholeness.
25:36And that's our show.
25:37We hope you enjoyed it.
25:39Don't forget to heat us up on the socials.
25:41Until next time, it's goodbye.
25:43Bye-bye.
25:44Bye-bye.
25:46Bye-bye.
25:49Bye-bye.
25:50Bye-bye.
25:55Bye-bye.
25:56Bye-bye.
25:58Bye-bye.
25:59Bye-bye.
26:00Bye-bye.
26:00Bye-bye.
26:00Bye-bye.
26:00Bye-bye.
26:01Bye-bye.
26:01Bye-bye.
26:01Bye-bye.
26:04Bye-bye.
26:06Bye-bye.
26:07You
Comments