The title State of the Nation is intended to explore aspects of a constructed African state that has just been ravaged by conflict
Based on communist and Fascist propaganda poster imagery the State Of The Nation Exhibition explored a conflicted continent. Inspired by Liberian War Lord ‘General Butt Naked’ and the events that lead up to the inaugural speech by the first supposedly democratically elected prime minister. These leaders were styled along many of our existing African leaders, retelling the history of a people from another time.
My brief from Kudzanai (Artist) was basically ‘Organized Confusion’. Kudzi’s thread in the background cloth you will see in all the photos. We scrummaged around in rubbish dumps and collected odds and sods of objects we thought would speak to the aesthetic a premise of the subject matter, keeping the visuals relevant yet also creating a trend.
The subject characters are young creatives making waves in the street culture of Johannesburg, from fashion, film makers, Mc’s to entrepreneurs.
This project was a lot of fun, and spur of the moment creativity combined with a keen collaboration in bringing Kudzanai’s vision into fruition.
