Cool Capital Biennale 2014 is a citizen-lead initiative to bring about visual, perception and actual change to Pretoria, by means of a multitude of small interventions. The aim is to introduce the public to a wealth of art, architecture, urban- and graphic design, as well as sculpture creations, while affording them the opportunity to interact with these civic interventions.
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The union between the Afrikaans and the German culture through the use of language and food in Lynnwood, Pretoria.
The illustartions show the hybridisation of two cultures through music and how they are connected.
Possible real life execution of the prism in Pretoria's Church Square
The first being the union between the Tswana and the Ghanaian culture through the use of music in Mamelodi, Pretoria.
The illustartions show the hybridisation of two cultures through music and how they are connected.
Possible real life execution of the prism in Pretoria's Church Square
Handmade binding.
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THE CULTURE CONNECT CAMPAIGN
Due to the increasing number of xenophobic attacks in South Africa, a highly noticeable rift has divided our country in two - those native to South Africa and those who're not. Since 1994, South Africa has always been a country that prides itself on its unity in the midst of diversity. Thus the birth of Ubuntu (the Zulu term used to describe a kind of humanist philosophy). The magnitude if the xenophobic attacks reported between 2008 and 2012 serve as evidence that a much needed anti-xenophobic campaign is long overdue.
South Africa has a long history of successful campaigns where committed and passionate South Africans stand together to fight for those who are unable to fight for themselves, like the Shout SA campaign - aimed to eradicate crime - along with the Save The Rhino campaign aimed at discouraging the pouching of Rhinos. With the above two very successful campaigns we have seen the immense natural ability South Africans have to stand together against all forms of injustice. Xenophobia is just another injustice for South Africans to work towards demolishing and what better way to do so than with the use of design.
With the blanket theme "Be Kind, Design", an anti-xenophobic campaign that focuses on eradicating Xenophobia through celebrating diversity rather than reprimanding the lack of, emerged. This campaign aims to highlight the many positives those that are not native to our country can bring and also aims at honouring areas in South Africa that have made a conscious decision to not only embrace these cultures but to also hybridise them with South African cultures. This campaign reinforces Ubuntu, human kindness and the bridging of cultures, thus the name Culture Connect.
The Culture Connect campaign was inspired by a South african man named Samual Kadiahka living in Mamelodi, Pretoria. Samual was so outraged at the amount of xenophobic attacks reported that he made a conscious effort to bridge the large Tswana and Ghanaian culture found in Mamelodi. He found a common interest between the two cultures - music - and makes use of that to make the large Ghanaian culture feel welcome and safe in Mamelodi.
What the Culture Connect Campaign is working towards not only celebrating the hybridisation of culture but to also honour and reward the areas that do so. A two meter high rectangular prism installation, called a Culture Connect Prism, would be awarded as honorarium to areas that show a passionate involvement in embracing foreign culture. The installation would consist of one prism - with illustrations wrapped around the two sides of the prisms. Each prism represents each culture involved in epitomising Ubuntu. At the moment there has been two noteworthy instances where South Africans are embracing the growing number of international cultures in our country. The first being the union between the Tswana and the Ghanaian culture through the use of music in Mamelodi, Pretoria. The second being the union between the Afrikaans and the German culture through the use of language and food in Lynnwood, Pretoria. The Culture Connect campaign would then reward the efforts made by the people living in Mamelodi and in Lynwood by awarding them each with their own pair of Culture Connect Prisms. The prisms would be placed in a communal space in the centre of Church Square in Pretoria.
As an area is awarded a Culture Connect Prism, a weekend long festival would be held, where people have the opportunity to learn more about the participating culture and how their area could be next in line for a Culture Connect Prism. These festivals would be an explosion of cultural food, dress, dance and music brought together by an explosion of graphic design incorporating Projection Mapping, murals and urban designs.
The Culture Connect campaign, along with it's prisms would bring a sense of pride to Pretoria and all its accomplishments in reverting back to the Ubuntu philosophy made popular by Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. This intervention would introduce the public to how Visual Communication and creativity can help solve a social problem as complex as xenophobia. The Culture Connect prism would make areas like Johannesburg and Cape Town envious of Pretoria's progress. It would then be a matter of time for these cities would soon start making cultural connections within themselves. This contagious act is bound to have a massive effect on how South Africa's ability to unite in diversity is a trait that will grow exponentially.
