Brett McManus: 09 Reel

Motion Designer / Art Director Brett McManus updates with a nifty reel. After freelancing in Capetown, South  Africa, McManus is now working in Europe. (via motionographer)

African Bands at SXSW

Of the array of great music and delectable bands playing in Austin, TX I highlight  The Parlotones & BLK JKS.  The Parlotones an indie rock band, have found themselves successful in SA and Europe. Their music is expressive and in no way have they left their music videos flat and boring. In 2005 they released an EP of “Dragonflies & Astronauts”, and in 2006 a memorable video directed by Claudio Pavan made way to be screened in RES FEST 2006 in South Africa. “Overexposed” is their new EP release. Animated in similar fashion yet pushing boundaries, making the band members animated characters, edited with some live action animation and film. 

Overexposed was directed by Claudio Pavan & Arri Reschke  of Lung Animation with some help from Darren Macpherson who always has outstanding work. Full video credits here. 

BLK JKS!!

Having been featured in last years Fader issue on African Music I found this band refreshing to my ears. Their psychedelic rock and dub, hits a new high with a mix of that distinctive South African rhythm making this band fresh & rad. Take a listen, buy their EP on itunes and here are some performance pics from Kamau Mucoki’s flickr page.

Meet Evoins – Evans Mbugua designing in France

Evans Mbugua love for patterns was inspired by the fact he grew up surrounded by khanga’s which are innate to African culture. He weaves through designs and typography easily reflecting repeated motifs somewhat drawn from this rich background. Kenyan born, now France based designer, Mbugua’s collaborative project Tumeni with Designer Amelie Rullier who also blogs, seeks to venture into brand design. Mbugua studied design in Pau, France and currently  freelances from Toulouse, FR (Both cities are in South France). See his work here.

Recap: NYC Fashion Week



I am a little late on my postings following NYC fashion week 2 weeks back. However, I’ll get off my lazy hiney and promise to locate & share events as they happen. Take a look at the designers links posted and the NY Times article on the African Fashion Collections. Flickr set here on This Day Arise

Stoned Cherrie - Founded by Nkhensani Nkhosi (South Africa)

Tiffany Amber – Founded by Flake Folarin-Coker (Nigeria)

Xuly Bët (Funkin’ Fashion Factory)- founded by  Lamine Badian Kouyaté (Mali born, Paris based)

I also noticed on Xuly Bet’s show, model Grace Jones video “Corporate Cannibal” directed by Nick Hooker was playing. Here it is!

Laughter!!

I was browsing the interwebs and stumbled on a few animators who worked on a short animation to be featured in Neil Davenport’s Laugher documentary about the Tanganyika laughter Epidemic. Directed by, Tavet Gillson with design & animation from Vita Rabinovich & Josh Goodrich all based in New York. Vita’s reel has a section of the animation. I knew about the Tanganyika epidemic when Radio Lab traveled to Tanzania to unravel the mystery of this hysteria laughter.The podcast (which I recommend you definely give an ear to) explains why we laugh quite well. Laughter Club is Neil’s first film which he explores the world of India laughter clubs. It’s also featured in 2009 Pangea Day Films. The short animation is featured somewhere in the film.

Aerial street art comes to Kibera.

JR’s a street artist whose 28 Millimeters project takes place in Kibera (the largest slum in Kenya).  JR managed to cover trains, rooftops and hills with pictures of women’s eyes that he had taken almost a year ealier. Take a look at this french artists work.

Photographs by Lyle Owerko showing at the Hauge

Lyle Owerko is based in New York city but has spent dozens of moments in the plains of Samburu in Kenya among other parts of Africa.  If you happen to be in the Hague in Norway, Lyle’s Samburu exhibit just opened this weekend. See his other work here.

The Big Picture… immigrants to Europe

Its not my thing to bring about the plight and peril of immigrants documented by sad imagery, but Africa is a tough place to live in as many are still impoverished and dream of a better life. Here are some photographs by Santiago Ferrero and other photojournalists. 

Michelle Son Updates

I’m a fan of Michelle Son’s work. Check out The new J&B projects plus Sportscene short stings. Sweet work!

Great Viral Marketing from Kenya

I don’t have all the news about this project, my friend Mugambi pointed it to me. Its such a great way to sublimly educate an audience whilst entertaining them. HIV Free Generation is intended as a game to the youth. Its witty in its approach and wonderful at the hope it brings while being quite a thrill. I’ll get word on the street on this amazing project which has been partnered by Warner Brothers. Check out the cool animations on the Learn link. Don’t miss out Dr. Judy, she’s HOT!!!!