- 7 weeks ago
This time host Zimingonaphakade Mabunzi tries out some ceramics painting at Create in Johannesburg, South Africa. Plus, ballet dancers in Nigeria, a female rapper in Senegal and the township’s daily bread levelling up.
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00:07today we are at create johannesburg at the prison break market it's a feast for crafts and
00:13creativity and we're going to explore it all i might just try my hand at some ceramics painting
00:19too but before we get into it here's what we have for you on today's show we head off to
00:26senegal
00:26where groundbreaking graffiti and rap artist zenix lets us into her world get a taste of a humble
00:33street food turned gourmet meal called the godda in doburg and then we head off to cape verd for a
00:41personal tour of the best capital city prior has to offer i am zimmy gonna forget and you're watching
01:04afrimax ballet is not usually a form of dance that is associated with the african continent
01:11but nigerian ballet teacher daniel ajala is on point and breaking those barriers
01:23in nigeria dance is not outside of daily life it is at the center dance is universal
01:30and anyone is free to choose what style of dance they would like to do however as in many african
01:36countries traditional dance forms are often preferred to western styles and ballet in
01:41particular is the hardest hit it is said to be foreign or culturally less relevant so what happens
01:49when someone in nigeria wants to dance ballet the universality of dance shows that even in the
01:55indigenous african dancing that we have here in nigeria has a link with valley we have like a marriage
02:01to the two cultures and that has been able to give a very unique approach to how people feel about
02:08ballet can ballet break boundaries and transform lives in a place where it's never been seen before
02:14let's meet the barrier pushing daniel ajala a ballet dancer from lagos valley can break boundaries
02:20because um there is something very special about valley which is its uniqueness there's something
02:26different about there's a fresh feel about it and i'm speaking from a very experiential point of view
02:33i think that ballet has been able to help us achieve certain things that
02:37if we're actually doing other style of dances we might not be able to achieve those kind of levels
02:42and i think that it is something that is worth one giving a try to for example we've actually had
02:48some of the best ballet teachers in the world teach our students we've been able to
02:53get to places that we are the only nigerians in like in the whole building so this is what ballet
03:00can do
03:01the self-taught dancer turned his passion into a mission to establish afro ballet let's check out
03:08what obstacles he had to fight against and why his passion for ballet has never let him give up it's
03:15been
03:16a very very new approach to giving them classical ballet which they're not really used to and so we're
03:22trying to orient them and give them more orientation to ensure that they can actually know that this
03:27is not like selling off nigerian art like we're very very interested and invested in our own dance
03:35style which is our own indigenous dance styles and that's why we're doing something called the afro
03:39ballet where we can actually infuse classical ballet with some african ballet movements thanks to social
03:47media ballet is gaining importance in africa too how has this encouraged daniel to not only indulge in
03:54his own passion for dance but also to enable dance as an educational and growth opportunity for others
04:00i decided to turn my dream into reality on the 9th of september 2017 because i wanted to create that
04:11as a day where and the moment where children can actually have dance education and it's been such a
04:18very amazing seven-year journey to see that this passion that was just something that we can just call
04:24a passion has become something that can be very life-changing growing a lot of children from different
04:29homes and today we have some of our students gracing international stages that were not opened
04:36to them before and that shows that the passion is indeed a mission with limited awareness of ballet
04:43and societal perceptions labeling it as elitist or gender specific how did daniel overcome these
04:50challenges most importantly because there is no belief system it is belief for example i'm going to use
04:56dance as a case study so we they think that it's a waste of time and there is no um
05:02continuity it's
05:03just a thing for the now where people think that oh just go and have fun and you go you
05:08can actually
05:09get something better to do in future but there's been like a there needs to be like an orientation that
05:15what you can actually start little that passion can become a career path for people a typical day at the
05:21leap of dance academy is filled with lots of rehearsals because the kids will come right from school
05:27down to the academy to take dance lessons and this shows that they have a very serious itinerary for
05:36every week for daniel ballet is more than dance it's a tool for empowerment education and self-expression
05:45but what makes him stay so dedicated to this art form and why does it matter so much to him
05:51i am not
05:52only educating the dancers of tomorrow but also educating the audience of tomorrow's theater meaning
05:57that if they are not going to actually want to do dance professionally they are going to be able to
06:01support the arts tomorrow and so it's involving being able to like give them the opportunities the
06:07the platform the the discipline the tool for life that can be used in all facets of their lives not
06:14just
06:14because they want to become ballet dancers globally there are a handful of black ballet dancers
06:18through the leap of dance academy daniel is inspiring a generation to dream leap and dance
06:26the question now is how far will this leap take them this leap will take them very far
06:33and i'm not just talking about just them becoming professional dancers
06:37i'm also talking about them doing other things in life example
06:42they might want to become doctors and bankers tomorrow but the lessons and things they've learned
06:48from hip-hop dance can be used in other areas of their lives so that's the bigger picture he's a
06:54person that wants to bring out that star in you that you think you don't have see them from one
07:01place
07:01to the other you know maybe i watch them on the instagram on the facebook seeing them i'm impressed
07:30so here at create the first step is picking out an object to paint
07:37oh this is so pretty i think we found our winner then you have to quickly dip it in the
07:47water to
07:48get rid of the dust and open the earth and waves pause and coming to join me now is kim
07:54and he's
07:55going to come give us a demo of how all of this works hello ma'am how are you hi
07:59i'm well thank
08:00you how are you thank you welcome to create thank you so much welcome so um i know you've been
08:05given
08:05a rundown of how it works and let's see you've chosen your pottery and you've dip it in the water
08:08basin so i'm quickly going to give you a quick demonstration on some techniques that you're going
08:12to use okay and we can start having fun we have a technique we call the masking tape technique now
08:17we use a masking tape to divide sections on where we want to do different types of work yes yes
08:22okay
08:23especially when we're dealing with different types of techniques over on pottery we use a masking tape to
08:28mark those divisions we do have a similar technique we call this the stickers technique so you'll find
08:33we got different types of stickers different shapes and sizes we've got hearts we've got circles we've got
08:36stars now moving forward we have what we call the darting technique okay okay that's where these come
08:42in so you'll find we have these in different colors in our paint section we use them for writing
08:46for outlining and also for the dots kim shows me all kinds of techniques for painting i'm not sure
08:53how good of an artist i am but it looks like it's going to be so much fun so while
09:03i finish up here
09:04let's head on to our next story she's bold she's creative and she's super talented i'm talking about
09:11senegalese graffiti artist and rapper zenx let's check it out
09:18zenyx what's the lady in the building meet the amazing zenyx zenyx is a hip-hop innovator and
09:28activist who has made her mark as senegal's premier female graffiti artist she dedicates most of her time
09:34to empowering other young creators this place is amazing i want to know about this you know can you
09:56tell me about it we're in leopold seda singho cultural institute in pekin this is my sanctuary
10:02the place where i learned how to do graffiti this place is my second home i come here every day
10:09for
10:10the last 15 years well it looks like there's a lot of things going on here why don't we go
10:17over there and
10:17you tell me about everything that's happening here we're in zen workshop which means zenyx entertainment
10:29my enterprise where i put forward the transmission of knowledge to the youth
10:37i share with them what i've experienced throughout the years
10:42as it was not so evident to get to this point and learn graffiti at that time
10:55i'd really like to provide this chance to the young generation of now
11:07i started graffiti at the age of 17.
11:12here you have young zenyx with small sketching drawing searching etc trying to find my mom
11:25when i was 17 i was already a painter who wanted to be directly connected to the painting
11:30in the long run i discovered graffiti via tv viewing
11:35firstly i saw people sprayed onto big walls and what amazed me was the wide space
11:39for expression they had then immediately i said to myself that i need the same to show off my talent
11:45and as a as a woman would you say that like you know you actually brought something on the table
11:51that wasn't here before as i went along i've been able to learn from my experiences from my life
12:04that even though we're in a hip-hop environment that can be very male very
12:08male dominated here in senegal i learned that art has no sex in fact it is the art in the
12:14heart and
12:15also the human being at the center i said then to myself why not do things my way
12:23i love everything that i heard here now i want to see a real world can we go outside and
12:27check out
12:28something amazing let's go 15 young talented artists who after one month of training in graffiti had
12:45realized together this wall with their own ideas with the desire to share what they had kept for a
12:50while in the within that's it and there they painted johnny away cool which means it's time to break the
12:59chains and to be free their main topics are peace love and some others hip-hop values and culture
13:20so i'm finished with my painting now but the process of turning it into a ceramic object
13:25only starts now
13:37so i'm in the kiln room now with bridget bridget what happens to my amazing painting now that i'm done
13:42all right um your item is not ready yet okay we have the first process which is the hiding on
13:48we put it in for six hours six hours cooling down which makes the paint uh hard so that it's
13:54easy for
13:55the glaze to stick to the item which is right here and then when we dip it it becomes all
13:59white after
14:00that we put it for the second fire ring which is the glaze it goes for nine hours when you're
14:05done
14:05your item will be classy the substance melt oh wow it becomes classy okay thank you bridget i can't
14:12wait to see my final product i can't wait to see you too thank you so much it's a pleasure
14:19ask anyone in johannesburg south africa what their go-to street food is and they will undoubtedly say
14:26a kota entrepreneur tabanele toaba is reinventing this humble classic and taking it to the next level
14:36introducing soweto's favorite street food the kota
14:42what makes this simple staple from the township so unique
14:47kota goes back to the industrial world where you know you had miners working long shifts and of course
14:54they weren't getting paid a lot of money so it was really a food for the people you know here's
15:00the
15:00man who wants to build a kota empire and this is the home where it all began tabanele toaba started
15:08selling kota in the heart of soweto what started in a garage is now a business with three food trucks
15:14in soweto and the cbd of santan
15:19so now we're making our famous nemo seafood kota
15:26so now we're going to spice up the seafood
15:31i think now we can go to the flat top and start grilling a little bit
15:43so now we're going to have the crab
15:44okay so most of our quarters when we assemble
15:48we try and keep least amount of bread around the quarter
15:54so it's sort of like a sly on each side
15:58we'll start the base of chips
16:17and there you have it one of taban is decadently different seafood quotas
16:23I ate a prawn quota like I've done a lot in my life but that's easy yo yo it was
16:30fabulous
16:30probably one of the most amazing quotas I've ever had in my life but before we find out why this
16:37quota has conquered the suburbs let's take a closer look at the origins of this popular street
16:42food so the bread was used as a container literally it's like the easiest way to take your meal because
16:49then you could just eat the bread also afterwards as part of the container so initially when they you
16:55know when the quota started or when they used to take like maybe their leftover supper so they'd have
17:00meat or whatever they were eating the night before is like the you know the protein they would take
17:07it inside the bread and the name gota gota is really just a loaf of bread that's been quoted to
17:14four
17:14quarters of course and that's where the word quota comes in and I grew up having the quota with cheaper
17:21ingredients and to be quite frank it was delicious it was good and still till today I still have it
17:27but I think you know things have changed I've got people who've grown up in the townships enjoying
17:32the court and they've moved to more suburbia and their pallets have grown as much as their lifestyles
17:39and what we've tried to do is try and match that so people who would rather have fresher ingredients
17:46more quality ingredients we've put into a quota we've tried to cater for different taste profiles and I think
17:55that's what makes us special there's even a vegetarian version most township gotas are generally made up of
18:02chips accha and some processed meats but Tabane's special menu boasts ingredients that are far cry from the
18:10quota's humble beginnings think calamari fish avocado and you've got the picture a lot of people don't like
18:18evil which is criminal Tabane is also very hands-on in his business and loves making these unconventional
18:26gourmet gotas in 2017 I got a job and a few of my friends weren't working and where we started
18:35in
18:35Protea North Mama Sly had a quota business and she closed down I think she was getting tired as she
18:42was aging
18:43so I thought you know what with the little money that I'm making let us try and open up this
18:49quota
18:50business with the idea that I had to sort of bring in the quota and put it next to the
18:57more established
18:58food brands it deserves some sort of respect and awareness and we thought you know let's bring
19:04the quota and see how far we can take it Tabane's gotas might be two to three times the price
19:12of a
19:12traditional quota and his kitchens are pumping out gotas but this wasn't always the case what were
19:19the biggest challenges when he started taking the quota out of the township we still had to teach get
19:27people to learn and unlearn and then relearn and to understand what we are trying to bring into the
19:33market so I think that was really our biggest issue because we would sell would sell really little but
19:40that few people that knew what we were trying to do who appreciated what we're doing would support
19:45us so in terms of revenue we'd sell but not really make the gross profit that we need to sustain
19:52it we
19:53had to do a lot of deliveries as I said working here in Santana I'd walk around gets people from
20:00different companies to order and we'd get bulk orders and we would transport them here so that was
20:07a way of tapping into this market this was about five years ago and slowly but surely the love starts
20:13to build one out of necessity Jing apartheid this iconic street food has taken on a modern twist through
20:21Tabane and his team's innovative vision even with calamari or prawn people continue to embrace their daily
20:30bread Capeford off of Africa's west coast is an island country packed with history culture and scenic beauty
20:39local rapper and activist Indira shows us around the country's capital prior hello everyone I'm Indira I'm a
20:51rapper and a singer from Cabo Verde and today I want to show you around my beautiful city Praia the
21:01economic
21:01political and cultural center of Cape Verde Praia has it all Praia actually means beach in Portuguese the
21:09city's name was clearly inspired by its coastal vibes located on the southern coast of the island of Santiago
21:16Praia is home to around 130,000 people it's the perfect place to experience authentic Cape Verde and
21:24culture like most West African colonial towns Praia is brimming with history after bumping into a friend
21:30Indira is keen to show us a very special mural depicting the famous anti-colonial revolutionary Amilcar Cabral
21:36we are now in front of a museum foundation of one of Africa's foremost anti-colonial fighter
21:46Cabo Verde has a very beautiful landscape and everything but unfortunately it hides a very painful
21:55colonial past Amilcar Cabral led the nationalist movement of Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde Islands
22:02he was assassinated on the 20th of January 1973 just a few months before Africa's Portuguese colonies
22:09gained their independence today he remains a legendary figure in Praia for sure Cabral's legacy remains
22:17forever within all Cabo Verdeans because what we are now is thanks to what he did in the past it's
22:26time
22:26to hit the Rua Peronal Praia's main pedestrian street here there's shopping and markets galore Indira is a famous
22:33face in these parts she shot her women power anthem Gatu Loja right here in 2021 this place specifically has
22:41a
22:41huge sentimental value for me since it was here I showed the first video of my career
23:04Cabo Verdean women are very beautiful and sexy but do not take us wrong because we have a very strong
23:11personality and this is what Gatu Loja talks about in the song I particularly encourage women to be brave to
23:21be
23:21strong and fight for what they want it's lunchtime let's go and Indira is in the mood for some
23:28traditional Cape Verdean food and she knows just the spot
23:39this cozy restaurant isn't your average coffee bar on the menu today is the national dish
23:44kachupa this is a traditional dish of Cabo Verde it's called kachupa it's made of corn meat vegetables
23:57normally Cabo Verdeans like to have it in the morning so like heavy things so it lasts longer me
24:05personally I like it like this you see with two fried eggs homemade sausages my mouth is even watering oh
24:16my
24:16god actually you should come and have it you have to try it I bet you will never regret
24:29what better way to cap off a day in prayer than a night at a legendary venue for Cape Verdean
24:35music
24:36the Quintal da Musica
24:41tonight we will have Batuco's night Batuco is a traditional genre of Cabo Verde and I will show
24:49you how to dance it at the end okay come with us the Batuco is one of the oldest music
24:55genres
24:56in Cape Verde in colonial times it was considered too African and even banned in urban centers but
25:03today it's well and truly alive I hope you enjoyed my tour I just come to Cabo Verde that I
25:10will teach
25:10how to dance Batuco I'm here waiting for you let's go
25:31and that is it for today's show we have had so much fun here at create Johannesburg and we hope
25:37that you enjoyed your time with us too catch us on the socials and until next time goodbye
25:42bye
25:54so
26:06Transcription by CastingWords