Made in Johannesburg is a protest-visual album by Ruzza Wazzi conceived to interrogate social issues on topics of racism, immigration and the persistent dream for something better. The visual album themes were further reinforced by an incident where a white man ran over Ruzza’s foot with his vehicle and drove off with no apology – upon attempting to open a case against the perpetrator at Parkview Police in Johannesburg, the police refused to open a case citing Ruzza’s injury was not severe enough. This is a problematic historic narrative that needs to be challenged as the Black-body continues to suffer through arbitrary public policies.
The visual album was written, produced and directed by Johannesburg-based artist Ruzza Wazzi draws inspiration from the city he knows intimately. The story is set in an abandoned building in Hillbrow downtown Johannesburg – provides a peek into his psyche, and relationship with people and places, the visual album, therefore, becomes an emotive conversation rooted in the journey of self through music, space, movement, costume, and imagery.
The visual album reflects on what it means to continue one’s pursuit of dreams while they and The world around them is in a constant state of flux. The narrative unfolds in a building that was once inhabited by people, now empty and dilapidated yet still holding memories, it becomes a timeless site of remaking- recreating out of seeming destruction and displacement. This is a context that is familiar to those who travel from their homelands to achieve their dreams in cities around the world. They must face the unknown, the unfamiliar, and the chaos of constant change, finding integration and making all of this work to fulfill their dreams.
/// Watch the prelude to ‘A Visual Album’ by Ruzza Wazzi:
