December 2018 By Amir Bagheri I remember growing up, not having a favourite colour. I saw colourful things as visual pollutions that hurt my eyes. I don’t remember drawing or painting anything, at least not voluntarily. Perhaps due to the fact that I was horribly bad at doing both, but maybe it was because I…
Category: Issue 11: Colours
And all the Colourful Houses
A Photo-Series by Shameelah Khan This is an Ode to the community of Bo-Kaap. Throughout this challenging time where the rapidly increasing effects of cancerous gentrification are looming at their doorsteps- they have continued to find ways to be strong. More than this- to open their doors when a stranger knocked- invited her in for tea…
Beautifully blue
A Poem By Mehdi Bagheri Johannesburg (2018): Staring at the blue sky I ask Remember the first time You became my favourite colour? Tehran (1996): So Mehdi Do you love me? Yeah I do but Let’s paint You say sure Why not? You give me the blue You take the yellow I paint the sky…
How to make gold out of absence
A Poem By Nkateko Masinga the instructions said mix 100 parts yellow 3 parts magenta & 1 part blue [to make gold] [100 parts yellow] i wasn’t yellow boned enough for them to love me so i decided to stay brown and loved myself instead all 100 parts of me are the colour of soil earth…
Joburg tension
A Photo-series By Zulu Desperado I’m a street photographer based in Johannesburg. I think I’m trying to capture my experiences within the heart of the city of Jo’burg. Most of my images are triggered by flashbacks of feelings and memories, and some come as the overall feeling of the city currently and the characters who occupy…
Stay Still
A Photo-series By Elif Fatima It is in these moments we are most powerful. The application of winged eyeliner is one of detail. Precision. We hold space for each other in the process. There is something spiritual about glamour. Glamming up collectively. Singing. Vibing. It is a ritual. There is something empowering about shifting our appearances…
Weeping Green
Two Short Stories By Ntombi Mhlambi The scarf covering her face only lets her see the path. Two front-eyes, in black trousers, march before her. A side-eye, in khaki trousers, walks beside her. And the back-eye behind her. She cannot see for herself. She has to lower her head. Let her face remain hidden. She…
Book Review: Persuasion
A Book Review By Melissa Fortuin Author: Jane Austen Year Published: 1817 Genre: Romance, Comedy It’s the end of the year pretty soon and I know you need a well-deserved break from drawing up that darn list of New Year’s resolutions you definitely won’t be sticking to, so really put that green liquid diet away…
Komorebi
A Poem By Joshua Nkwana there are open skies at home unlike the packed streets of the city. morning sunset comes naked never to hide across tall buildings and blurry smoke from industries. at the mountain the sun cuts a sharp eye warming the whole village; trees whisper through appetizing leaves, shadows mirrored on the ground breathing…
Azure
A Poem By Alex M. Skin pierced by sun rays That danced along my squinted eyes I tried to trace the lining of the skies You turned to me and said Let’s go for a swim You made me float and I said “I feel like a cloud” So you spin me around…