Now Gallery presents the vibrant culture of ‘A Young South Africa’ captured through the lens
Now Gallery’s ‘A Young South Africa, Human Stories’ showcases six inspiring photographers for the 2023
![Now Gallery ‘A Young South Africa’, photographs from the exhibition](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xzGT2RFXkp4XW4uM8TTJck-415-80.jpg)
When stepping into the Now Gallery on London’s Greenwich Peninsula, you enter into the vibrant youth culture of South Africa. ‘A Young South Africa’, the title of this year’s annual ‘Human Stories’ project, is presented through the eyes of six South African photographers – Bee Diamondhead, Fede Kortez, Aart Verrips, Nikki Zakkas, Anita Hlazo, Ben Moyo and Karabo Mooki – who capture the diverse culture of their home nation, which is shadowed by a complex political, socio-economic and cultural landscape.
The featured works celebrate individualism, co-creation, and collaboration, telling the story of the ‘Ama2000s’, a generation of young South Africans defined by self-expression and political awareness, and a desire to revolt against the constraints of the past.
Fede Kortez, Cape Town Vibes
Despite the continuous rise of youth unemployment, and the decline in basic services like clean water, the creative energy of Ama2000s is undimmed and expressed through visual culture, music, and fashion – all a focus of the exhibition, which has been curated by Kaia Charles.
Speaking with Wallpaper*, she said: ‘Human Stories commissions seek to engage the viewer in global conversations. South Africa is known for its turbulent past and the amazing Amapiano music movement that is sweeping the world. We hope the exhibition will share new perspectives, both thought-provoking, uplifting and transformative.’
Now Gallery: 'A Young South Africa'
Anita Hlazo, Afrogrunge
)
In her photographs shot in Nyanga, a township in the Western Cape, and Cape Town, fashion designer and stylist Anita Hlazo, founder of label Afrogrunge, showcases her evolving style and identity as a Black ‘Alternative’ presenting girl, mixing pop and grunge subcultures. Hlazo’s portraits capture piercings, tattoos, and platformed boots, contextualised by the urban environment and local communities.
Karabo Mooki, Island Gals
In this photo-documentation, Karabo Mooki focuses on the lives of ‘Island Gals’, a skateboarding community based in Johannesburg and Soweto. The Black women and queer crew reclaim their right to appear in the places they skate, collectively declaring the right to protest against South Africa's history of gender-based violence.
Fede Kortez, Cape Town Vibes
Glazed with a saturated colour, Kortez’s portraits are shot in the Bo-Kaap and Woodstock neighbourhoods of Cape Town. The colourful houses of Bo-Kaap celebrate the district’s Muslim identity. Through his photography, Kortez seeks to capture the energy of the two neighbourhoods while embracing Pan African pride and connection with the people he photographs.
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Nikki Zakkas
Bhungane Mehlomakulu, Vaalpark, Sasolburg
Keen to share cultural richness, diversity and pride, Zakkas captures a cast of five young people within the locations that are significant to those individuals. The backgrounds hide symbolic clues to their personalities, with each photo as unique as its subject.
Bee Diamondhead, Back to the Soil
Three queer, male musicians are photographed by Bee Diamondhead, who celebrates their beauty, softness and vulnerability, challenging the cultural stereotypes of the South African music industry. She critiques toxic masculinity and acknowledges that her country has the highest gender-based violence rate in the world. The nude sitters, painted with coloured clays and earth, engage in ‘a ritual of remoulding’ themselves, ‘channeling back with the soil or giving back to it’.
Aart Verrips, For My Liewe Land
Through self-expression, Aart Verrips reimagines the ‘rainbow nation’. Exploring the intersection of music, performance and fashion, he features a collective of individuals driving the cultural movement.
Now Gallery's ‘A Young South Africa, Human Stories’ is showcased from 11 October – 19 November 2023. nowgallery.co.uk
Tianna Williams is the Editorial Executive at Wallpaper*. Before joining the team in 2023, she has contributed to BBC Wales, SurfGirl Magazine, and Parisian Vibe, with work spanning from social media content creation to editorial. Now, her role covers writing across varying content pillars for Wallpaper*.
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Francis Alÿs plots child play around the world at the Barbican
In Francis Alÿs' exhibition ‘Ricochets’ at London’s Barbican, the artist explores the universality of play, even in challenging situations
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
‘I am almost an anti-sculptor’: Dominique White on her Whitechapel Max Mara Art Prize show
The artist mines the ocean to explore Afrofuturism in ‘Deadweight’, opening at London’s Whitechapel and detailed in a new film
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
Remembering Rusty Egan's Blitz Club: a place to 'avoid the mob and the homophobes', where the New Romantics were born
As he releases new vinyl boxset, 'Blitzed!', Wallpaper* meets DJ Rusty Egan to talk about London's scene-building Blitz club – the antidote to the late 70s punk scene and a hot-bed of experimental fashion
By Craig McLean Published
-
The body, pleasure and play: Beryl Cook and Tom of Finland united in London
Tom of Finland’s homoeroticism meets Beryl Cook’s female-oriented camp as Studio Voltaire unites work by the two artists in a London exhibition
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Zanele Muholi celebrates South Africa’s Black LGBTI communities in LA and London
Zanele Muholi's portraits and sculptures are currently on show at Southern Guild Los Angeles and the Tate Modern, London
By Hannah Silver Published
-
A pop-up gallery in Mayfair considers the real and the fake
PLP Architecture’s 60 Curzon in the heart of London is temporarily a gallery
By Clare Dowdy Published
-
Looking at people looking at art: inside the mind of a gallery attendant
Visitor experience workers at London’s Tate Modern, Serpentine, Barbican and V&A share what it’s like to watch people looking at art during a time of changing attention spans and rising vandalism
By Kyle MacNeill Published
-
Everything to see at London Gallery Weekend 2024
London Gallery Weekend 2024 highlights, from Nan Goldin to John Akomfrah, as 130-plus galleries and 70 live events take over the capital (31 May – 2 June)
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published