Imbawula is a monthly storytelling initiative which brings together four storytellers from different walks of life to share their experiences – whether inspiring, humorous, touching or thought provoking – with a view to exposing a shared human experience. In this story, Ms. Pontsho Pilane navigates the all too common pitfalls of dating while feminist. There…
Posts Written By
Ms. Aluwani Ratshiungo
Shabaka channels The Wisdom of Elders
London based saxophonist and bandleader Mr. Shabaka Hutchings recently launched Wisdom of Elders, the latest project from his outfit, Shabaka and the Ancestors, at The Orbit, in Johannesburg. In this exclusive conversation with MS. ALUWANI RATSHIUNGO, he took us track by track, through the project. “Normally, when I write songs, I just start to write and then afterwards I…
Womb-Man | A story about infertility
Infertility is a sensitive enough subject, without the stigma often attached it. Although men and women can suffer from it, it is women who bear the brunt of a society that essentialises womanhood around child-bearing. For those who endure the pain of longing for a child, with no natural means to conceive one, it is often difficult…
MBFWJ16 | Menswear showcase underwhelms
The curtain came down last week on the first ever Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Joburg (MBFWJ) Spring/Summer showcase, and as MS. ALUWANI RATSHIUNGO reports, some of the menswear on show left much to be desired. In comparison to the A/W 16 collections, the MBFWJ S/S menswear collections were somewhat disappointing. The decision to move the S/S showcase from Cape…
Ungovernable | Laura Windvogel
She is self-affirmed, walking to nobody’s tune but her own. She rejects conformity and seeks only her own truth. She is ungovernable, and just the kind of woman we love. MS. ALUWANI RATSHIUNGO sat down with Ms. Laura Windvogel, or the artist and activist known as Lady Skollie. Noted Man[NM]: In a paragraph, please introduce…
Protest, resistance and questions of ambiguity
In Kemang Wa Lehulere’s exhibition, The knife eats at home, a history of student protest is laden with ambiguity and poetry. A week after the 40th anniversary of the Soweto student uprisings, MS. ALUWANI RATSHIUNGO reflects on the meaning of the award-winning artist’s latest body of work. Mr Kemang Wa Lehulere explores the capacity of objects to transcend their…
Review | Town The Bar
After a false start some years ago, a renewed effort to revitalise the cultural and transit hub of Newtown, in the Johannesburg CBD, is well underway with the opening late last year of the Newtown Junction retail hub. Town, the buzzing dim sum bar in the space, has become a popular destination. Town – the…
Still not your Weekend Special
Our Associate Editor, Mr Bongani Madondo, hosts a book reading and discussion this week, to celebrate the life of Brenda Fassie 12 years after her death. 12 years ago, Mzansi was mourning the loss of one of its most talented artists, Brenda Fassie – affectionately known as MaBrrr – who passed away on the 9th…
Ungovernable | Tiisetso Molobi
She is self-affirmed, walking to nobody’s tune but her own. She rejects conformity and seeks only her own truth. She is ungovernable, and just the kind of woman we love. In the latest of a series of interviews with these remarkable women, MS. TIISETSO MOLOBI unpacks the struggles and paradoxes of identity and growth. Noted Man[NM]:…
The Collector | Percy Mabandu on his favourite jazz books
Mr Percy Mabandu is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared on numerous South African and international publications. A lifelong man of words and music aficionado, his obsessions peak at the intersection of jazz and literature. He shared some of his favourite jazz books with MS. ALUWANI RATSHIUNGO. Mr Mabandu has been writing about art, jazz and the…