Southern Guild present Solo Shows by Rich Mnisi and Justine Mahoney

Jan 29, 2024 | News, Art

Rich Mnisi: Dzuvula (Shedding Skin)
8 February – 18 April 2024 

Southern Guild Cape Town presents Dzuvula (Shedding Skin), a solo exhibition of collectible design by Rich Mnisi, from 8 February to 18 April 2024. Comprising sculptural bronze furniture and lighting, as well as a hand-woven limited-edition rug, Dzuvula is an expansion on the cosmology of duality that emerged with the designer’s debut collection, Nyoka (2021). The body of work complicates the interplay of the mundane and the magical, the matriarchal and magisterial – themes that have emanated from the artist’s embrace of fluidity as a guiding philosophy and aesthetic approach.  

The snake – with its embodiment of fear and beauty – makes a reappearance in Dzuvula, the undulating arcs of its movement distorting and disrupting borders and edges. A hiss resounds through this collection, a sensuous whisper hinting at something deviant, rubbing against boundaries, smoothing hard gradients, holding within its resonant sound conflicting truths and contrasts. 

A polished bronze table, titled Mbhoni (Witness), bulges and swells outwards, held up on a serpentine limb that at once embraces and impales it. A pair of sculptural seats, Ripfumelo I and Ripfumelo II, combining bronze armatures and sheepskin seats, introduce a soft lushness to the collection, embodying fear/comfort dualities. 

 In Vutlhari II (Wisdom), a bronze chandelier, the serpent contorts over and into itself in a manner best described as swirling, consuming wisdom handed down by our forebears. In this edition of the chandelier – a collaboration between Rich Mnisi and designer Charles Haupt that debuted in Nyoka – the shades have been printed with an intricate snakeskin pattern.

Dzuvula also references Bumba, the Bushongo mythological god who created life by vomiting up elements of the natural world. Shiluva (Flower), a rug in Tibetan wool and silk, depicts the primordial soup of Bumba’s regurgitation of life. Nyoka II, a curved console which also first appeared in Mnisi’s 2021 solo, is punctuated by the winding form of a bronze snake, its storage cavity concealed by richly patterned beading inspired by Mnisi’s 2022 Mafamba Yexe fashion collection. Bursts of gleaming bronze are interwoven with insights from the past and the future.

Rich Mnisi’s ‘Mbhoni (Witness), 2023, photographed by Hayden Phipps. Southern Guild.

 

Collaborating closely with Southern Guild, Mnisi brought his visions to life by working with various artists and artisans including Charles Haupt of Bronze Age Studio, who was instrumental in Monkeybiz, Paco Rugs and. This aligns with both Southern Guild and the designer’s commitment to promoting craft and South African handwork.  

 Collaboration is an incredibly intimate praxis, requiring connection and closeness before it can reach for comprehension. Intimacy as a theme runs throughout Mnisi’s works, in the way their forms hug the body and require the viewer to move around, their silhouettes changing with every view. Nwa-Mulamula’s Embrace (2021) is named after his great grandmother and models its form on the curved shape of the late matriarch. Reworked in concrete for this collection, it is a powerful evocation of the transfer of knowledge between generations, here transmuted into a gesture of peace, reflected in its title, Rhulani (Peace).  

 Where Nyoka attempted to hold the frictions and tensions of creation and life, Dzuvula expands on this world to draw parallels between the snake’s duplexity and our own conflicting nature. Nyoka spoke to creation through regurgitation and the drawing together of things; Dzuvula speaks to the things that quietly encroach in between. This new body of work is the spark created by that friction: the animation of life. Reflective surfaces refract and manipulate light, creating many forms from the teasing apart of one.   

 “We are at once faithful and faithless, bound and free,” Mnisi notes. “Sustaining existence within life’s many tensions defines the human experience. Dzuvula turns the acceptance of this immutable truth into a sensory journey. Every piece reflects the result of growing into oneself – risk and vulnerability, strain and ease – through a vocabulary of forms, patinas, patterns and textures.” 

Born in Johannesburg in 1991, Rich Mnisi’s broad design vision embraces fashion and functional sculpture. His work flows according to the themes and motifs he returns to and continually pushes forward: the women in his life, queerness and the VaTsonga tribe. 

 Mnisi graduated from Johannesburg’s LISOF School of Fashion in 2014, following which he was named Africa Fashion International Young Designer of the Year at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Africa. He founded his eponymous label in 2015, creating genderless, seasonless collections infused with his own personal narrative and heritage. 

 His first solo exhibition of sculptural furniture, titled Nyoka (meaning snake in Xitsonga), was a bold exploration of shape and fluidity, brought to life through vivid contrasts of forms and materials, including bronze, wool, resin and glass. Mnisi’s work has been presented by Southern Guild at Design Miami and Investec Cape Town Art Fair.  

Rich Mnisi’s ‘Mbhoni (Witness), 2023, photographed by Hayden Phipps. Southern Guild.

 

Justine Mahoney: VIGIL
8 February – 18 April 2024 

Southern Guild Cape Town presents VIGIL, a solo exhibition of ceramic sculptures and paintings by South African artist Justine Mahoney, from 8 February – 18 April 2024. The artist reimagines the 12 Jungian archetypes in a series of sculpted figures and large-scale paintings on heavy-weight fabric. Rooted in a wealth of esoteric theory, Mahoney’s archetypes embody and mythologise facets of the collective human unconscious.  

Over an extended period of isolation during the pandemic, Mahoney began a daily practice of self-enquiry through Jungian meditation. Encountering what Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung referred to as “Mythopoetic Imagination” – the dark and fertile landscape of active imagination – the artist conjured vivid manifestations of each archetype. Jung believed these archetypal models underpinned man’s innate and universal personas, behaviours and motivations. They appeared to Mahoney as messengers, carriers from the invisible terrain, arriving as “giant psychic forces” from within. She crystallised their final forms after extensive research into Tarot, Plato’s theory of forms, and a close reading of Jung’s journals (The Black Books) and manuscripts (The Red Book: Liber Novus). She also drew heavily from esoteric knowledge systems that pre-date the advent of Judeo-Christianity. Treating imaginative thought and fantasy as vital creative functions, VIGIL surfaces from a subversive reality; one that belies rationality to ground itself more freely in the ancient, essential and human. 

Mahoney’s process of sculpting this body of work echoes the digital collages in her previous series. Shaping the clay into the desired form, each figure was then deconstructed – bisected, hollowed out, interchanged and reassembled to take their final expression. This act of disruption and reconfiguration extends throughout Mahoney’s three decades-long career, which has been characterised by a preference for transgressive, hybridised figuration. This hybridity is the result of a distinct self-awareness that has seen the artist remain active in and awake to both the making of her work and the larger examination of her own identity.

Justine Mahoney, Mother, 2023, photographed by Hayden Phipps. Southern Guild.

Justine Mahoney, The Heroine, 2023, photographed by Hayden Phipps. Southern Guild.

Justine Mahoney, The King, 2023, photographed by Hayden Phipps. Southern Guild.

The works in VIGIL regard the figure as an amorphous vessel, transforming each body into irregular contortions. Mother arches backward, life-giving milk flowing from her breasts as 10 fingers reach through her stomach as if growing from within. She is the creator and destroyer, both the abundant life-force and the abyss. The Child looks skyward, mouth agape, holding up two large hands in what could be interpreted as either acquiescence or protest. The figure stands at the precipice of a new beginning, the cosmic infant of boundless possibility. The Wanderer, wearing a hooded cloak, eyes peering out from a painted face of red, holds the head of a wolf. They are the hungry seeker, returning with the spoils from the divine hunt. Some figures read as plant-like, with braided hair or limbs reaching downward to ground themselves in the earth. Mahoney considers these apparitions as the denizens of our inner worlds, encompassing the duality and rapture of our universal humanity.

The painted earthenware figures stand on ebonised plinths of indigenous cedar and pine, which Mahoney treated using the centuries-old Japanese wood-burning technique of Shou Sugi Ban. Each plinth has been torched with a flamethrower, blackening the wood before being sealed with an ebony stain. Returning to painting after years of working solely in bronze, clay and digital collage, the artist created a corresponding series of enamel paintings on large segments of fabric. The two-dimensional figures appear flattened, reducing the form of their sculptural likenesses to deliberate silhouettes of line and colour. The immense paintings – hanging almost from floor to ceiling – converse with the clay bodies, retaining each archetype’s energetic weight in a reimagined graphic figure.  

In a moment of epistemic restlessness and global upheaval, Mahoney’s VIGIL finds renewed meaning in ancient, inner knowing. The body of work elevates the primal and perhaps forgotten knowledge of our collective humanness and shared mythologies.  

VIGIL by Justine Mahoney runs concurrently with Dzuvula (Shedding Skin) by Rich Mnisi at Southern Guild Cape Town from 8 February – 18 April 2024.

Justine Mahoney, The Queen, 2023, photographed by Hayden Phipps. Southern Guild.

Justine Mahoney, The Wanderer, 2023, photographed by Hayden Phipps. Southern Guild.

COMING UP AT SOUTHERN GUILD 

Cape Town Gallery 
Justine Mahoney: VIGIL, 8 February – 18 April 2024 
Rich Mnisi: Dzuvula (Shedding Skin), 8 February – 18 April 2024 
 
Los Angeles Gallery 
Zizipho Poswa: Indyebo yakwaNtu (Black Bounty), 22 February – 18 April 2024 
Mother Tongues, Group Show, 22 February – 18 April 2024 
 
Fairs  
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, 15-18 February 2024 
Main Section 
Solo Section: Kamyar Bineshtarigh 
Generations: Terence Maluleke 
Expo Chicago, 8-14 April 2024 
 
 
ABOUT SOUTHERN GUILD
Established in 2008 by Trevyn and Julian McGowan, Southern Guild represents contemporary artists from Africa and its diaspora. With a focus on Africa’s rich tradition of utilitarian and ritualistic art, the gallery’s programme furthers the continent’s contribution to global art movements. Southern Guild’s artists explore the preservation of culture, spirituality, identity, ancestral knowledge, and ecology within our current landscape. Their work has been acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, LACMA, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pérez Art Museum, Mint Museum, Harn Museum, Denver Art Museum, Vitra Museum, Design Museum Gent and National Gallery of Victoria. Since 2018, the gallery has collaborated with BMW South Africa on a year-round programme of meaningful activations that promote artist development and propel their careers. Located in Cape Town, Southern Guild will expand internationally with a 5,000 sqft space opening in Melrose Hill, Los Angeles in February 2024. 
 
Press release courtesy of Southern Guild  

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

Alita Limona releases her debut Lofi Hip-Hop EP

Jan 26, 2024 | New Release, Music

Alita Limona makes her return to Stereofox with the comforting new EP Grandpa’s Closet – a project that takes inspiration from the Jazz Age of the 1920s. 

As the daughter of a jazz musician, German beatmaker, and multi-instrumentalist, Alita Limona grew up between the music studio and the stage, even penning her first songs at the age of 13. Her talent and dedication have led to her becoming a stand-out force in the beat scene as she consistently acquaints listeners with visceral feelings of nostalgia. 

“The idea for the EP started out as a side project while I was working on my debut album. I got lost in browsing through old jazz vinyls and absolutely fell in love with the sound and feeling they gave me. And I love Vinyl Crackles. Makes me want to cuddle up in a blanket and sit next to a fireplace with a good smelling book. Working on it made me nostalgic and think of my grandfather a lot. I imagined the life he might have had when he was young. I pictured him as an actor from those old movies dressed in handsome vintage clothes hanging out in underground jazz clubs. I improvised vocals on some of the tracks and intuitively felt like singing them in golden 20s style like Lana del Rey does. The songs are about love and the beauty of momentum before the speed and business of digital times.“ says Alita Limona

Alita Limon Grandpas Closet EP

From the vinyl crackles to the cosy and vintage-looking artwork, Alita’s adulation for yesteryears can be seen and heard all over Grandpa’s Closet EP. Thoughts of her grandpa stayed with her throughout the creation of this body of work, and served as the inspiration for the opener “Grandpa’s Video Projector” and the follow-up “Grandpa’s Old Leather Jacket”. On the lead single “I Can Watch the Seasons Change,” she goes one step further, adorning her smooth and nostalgic instrumental with a soulful vocal performance delivered as if she’s from the 1920s. Ushering you into an experience that feels reflective and romantic at the same time, this release marks the arrival of her debut EP and romanticises the beauty of momentum before the speed and business of digital times.

Listen to ‘Grandpa’s Closet’ HERE 

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Press release courtesy of Mike Kelly 

Thievery Corporation’s Eric Hilton unveils instrumental gem ‘Midnight Milan’

Jan 26, 2024 | New Release, Music

Co-founder of the influential group Thievery Corporation, Eric Hilton unveils instrumental gem ‘Midnight Milan’, the first single taken from his forthcoming album Sound Vagabond, a 14-track sonic travelogue created by one of the fathers of downtempo electronic music.

As co-founder of the influential group Thievery Corporation, Hilton has spent decades merging diverse global genres into a singular music vision. Sound Vagabond is perhaps the ultimate iteration of this ethos, each track an audio picture postcard of a place real or imagined. “Some memories of the places I’ve been are very clear; others are distant, nostalgic echoes,” says Hilton. “This record started modestly, with some basic ideas, but after writing the first 8 tracks I knew I had a travelogue.”

Hilton, who has used sampling in his music since the early days of Thievery Corporation, didn’t go digging into crates to create crunchy 12-bit vinyl samples for this record, but instead turned to public domain sample libraries. Saying, “This record is like a sound collage, with 60% samples and 40% live instruments. Sampling off old vinyl records is great, but there are obvious licensing and clearance headaches. Public sample libraries are a fantastic resource; you dig through a lot of hilarious garbage, but I’m astounded by the nuggets you can find. You can find specific instruments in any given key, and then the challenge is chopping them up, recontextualizing and integrating them with the track you’re making.” The end result is music where the samples don’t call attention to themselves or distract from the carefully curated mood in any way.

A perfect way to ease into 2024, “Midnight Milan” brings to mind a late night assignation, breathy promises and a doomed kiss.

Listen to ‘Midnight Milan’ HERE 

Press release courtesy of Only Good Stuff

DJ Lag & Mr Nation Thingz release viral TikTok song ‘Hade Boss’

Jan 26, 2024 | New Release, Music

Mr Nation Thingz originally teased ‘Hade Boss’ on TikTok in December – a collaboration he’d been working on with 2023 SAMA Best Gqom Album winner, DJ Lag. What they didn’t anticipate was how much the song would blow up on TikTok and champion its own dance challenge, long before it was finalised or had a release date pinned down. Thousands of fans will be pleased to know that ‘Hade Boss’ is now officially available on all streaming platforms.

According to Mr Nation Thingz, “‘Hade Boss’ is about talking to his boss, telling him that he wants his annual bonus now that it’s December because he wants to go party and have fun. He wants to experience the summertime, and play with the other kids.” Essentially an anthem for pens down and vibes up.
Mr Nation Thingz may sound unfamiliar to some, but he’s amassed nearly half a million followers on Instagram and regularly draws large crowds at his performances. He broke onto the South African music scene in 2021, but his first major hit ‘Tholakele’ became a national success in 2023. When he began working on ‘Hade Boss’ his first instinct was to send a direct message to DJLag on Instagram to collaborate on the track, and the rest is history.

DJ Lag x Mr Nation Thingz x Hade Boss Single Cover

Also featured on the track is KC Driller, a DJ, producer and songwriter who has previously collaborated with DJ Lag on their joint hit ‘Shululu’, featuring Loki.
 DJ Lag is no stranger to releasing national hits, with his most recent collaboration with Blxckie becoming a local sensation.Starting 2024 with a banger, ‘Hade Boss’ is set to become the anthem for this year’s summer.

Listen to ‘Hade Boss’ HERE

Connect with DJ Lag:
X (formerly Twitter): @RealDJLag
Instagram: @realdjlag
Facebook: @realdjlag
Tik Tok: @realdjlag
YouTube: @DJLAG

SA Producer MrMilkDee releases new single titled ‘2 Positions’ ft. Jill Rock Jones, Remixed by Sean McCabe

Jan 26, 2024 | New Release, Music

Foliage Records presents its first release for 2024 with a welcome return for US singer songwriter Jill Rock Jones, who has teamed up with upcoming South African producer MrMilkDee for the single ‘2 Positions’. Adding weight to the package is multi-talented UK producer and remixer Sean McCabe.

Atlanta native Jill Rock Jones keeps it raw & digs deep with another stirring demonstration of soulful flavour whilst Sean McCabe provides layers of deep synths & jazztronic piano over those rolling percussive afro beats. Matsobane Lucasta Teffo, aka MrMilkDee, hails from Polokwane and is one of the latest emerging deep house DJ/Producers to rise to prominence in South Africa. This is Jill’s third collaboration on Foliage after previous releases ‘Tell The Story’ with Daz-I-Kue and also ‘I Don’t Like It’ Jill with The Realm.

Having released his first tracks in 2003 at the tender age of 17, Bristol-based producer Sean McCabe has had plenty of time to develop & fine-tune his sound, a trademark sound that is effortlessly soulful. McCabe has remixed the likes of Dennis Ferrer, Evelyn ‘Champagne King and Blaze whilst amassing an impressive discography of nearly 100 releases for labels like Local Talk, Strictly Rhythm, Vega Records, King Street, Tribe Records, Quantize and Dave Lee’s Z Records.

MrMilkDee & Jill Rock Jones

Listen to ‘2 positions’ HERE

Press release courtesy of Only Good Stuff

The Sanctuary of Amy Ayanda’s Music

Jan 25, 2024 | Interviews, Music

Though music has always been in Amy Ayanda’s experience, the life force within her artistry is indistinct from her journey of becoming a mother; at just twenty two years old. The creative energy required to call in a song or to grow life might seem far apart; yet, the feminine source of this principle remains the same. Amy is both an artist and a musician; with the former being her everyday and the latter – an uncomplicated, comforting companion that she shares with her husband Dean Berger and their band. I  spoke to Amy ahead of a rare and special performance for Danilo Querios’ theatre series titled ‘Quiet Live’. The next one, featuring Amy Ayanda and Kozo Zwane, takes place at The Avalon Theatre District Six Homecoming Centre on 2nd February 2024 – the site of the old Fugard Theater venue. A seated venue, it is expected to be an intimate and significant affair. 

Amy’s relationship to music tracks a sequence of sonic time-capsules; with her decade-long journey releasing music serving as cathartic conduits for growth and grief alike – and today, the garment of music that she wears is a more straightforward site of playfulness. Amy explains that, “I always loved making music, but it was more like in my bedroom. I went up to quite high grades in piano and flute in high school, but then I stopped – it was too intense for me. I painted instead and did art as a subject, which I then went to university for. My brother taught me my first guitar chords, but It was only in my fourth year at Michaelis that I released a song; I had played something I’d written a long time ago, for my friend Thor and we then developed it and put it out. The song was called ‘La Llorna’ and it did very well. It was so random – it was even picked up by Noisey Magazine.” This track captures a very specific moment in Cape Town’s music culture; with Amy’s soft vocals encompassed by poetic and pronounced lyrics – accompanied further by Thor Rixon’s signatured, textured production. It is indie-informed electro; poetic, robust and precise. As Amy notes, the music video was recorded in Thor’s room. Amy would go onto release an EP on SoundCloud that year (to have a pre-streaming age SoundCloud footprint should tell you something about Amy’s sonic path; a veteran.)

Then, something surreal would take place following this initial release and its success. Amy recalls, “I went overseas to Berlin after university, so I was around 22 years old – and I found out I was six weeks pregnant. It was a very big shock, but I had this feeling that ‘I was having this child.’ – I just knew it. Termination just did not arise as an option, even though I looked into it. Everything in me was telling me to have this baba.” As she reflects, now well into motherhood, there is a matter-of-factness that Amy expresses when sharing this part of her life. Though, one could imagine how difficult this moment might have been; as a young woman, at the beginning of their adulthood journey. At this time, Amy’s mom was very sick; so, when her mom found out via video call, Amy knew that destiny had made the decision for her. As Amy says,“My dad is an Anglican priest and I was terrified of getting in big trouble, being unmarried and pregnant. His response was just, ‘I can’t believe your mom got a picture of the scan first and I didn’t!’ He was just so happy that my mom was going to see her grandchild.” 

Music was Amy’s catalyst for moving through the many threads of change, grief and love occuring all at once in her life. As she says, when she came home to Cape Town (very pregnant) she was asked to play mainstage at Rocking The Daisies. As Amy says, “I was seven months pregnant at the point. I had no band and no idea how to perform. My partner Dean was like, ‘I will make you a band!’ – and so he got his best friends involved, with Dean on drums, Jesse Gilles as our guitarist and Daniel  Breiter who is also a guitarist and producer, and Glein Stein, on bass. They digitised the songs, so it was this mixture of electronic sounds with live instruments. I was just pregnant; really pregnant, growing this baby and performing our hearts out, with me holding my back with one hand and the mic in the other. It wasn’t difficult, it was so much fun.”

The transformative act of giving birth signalled a new beginning; and Amy’s earlier work is completely tied to becoming a young mother, noting that she’s not sure many people realise just quite how personal her earlier work is. Amy says, “I had quite a spiritual way of looking at life when I was younger. I had an intrinsic pull towards nature and going to electronic festivals that took me to other realms. I think you can see that in my work to this day, but I’m not actually that way so much any more. One of the EP’s I named ‘Ab Ovo’, which means ‘from the egg’. I started writing it when I was sitting in the clinic in Berlin, seeing young parents with children – and realising that it was so normal to have children and to incorporate them into your life. The song is me kind of talking to Dean about us doing this. The EP started then, with that song, and was finished and released when our daughter Frankie was one. At the end of the EP, there’s an appraisal and if you listen very carefully, you can hear Frankie’s voice singing in the background.” Walking between the worlds of life and death is rarely so intensely experienced by most people, with Amy saying that “at the time that I put that song out, my mom was very ill; she had cancer for 22 years, and by the time I was pregnant with Frances, it had become extremely severe. Being between that boundary of life and death was profoundly beautiful and incredibly difficult. Back then, music was very much a way to process the grief that I was experiencing.”

I ask Amy whether being an artist and a musician requires a boundary between the two? When a concept arises – how is it sorted, visually from sonically? On how her expression emerges, Amy says that “I have always had a boundary between my music and art. In retrospect, my art is about loss – and belonging, letting go of things – and tender moments that you can’t otherwise hold onto. I think my art still speaks a lot about those things. Music, on the other hand, has remained something that works in and around my life, as it happens. I have kids – and a lot going on – so sometimes I’ll sit down and just write, and then the actual recording only happens a year later. Music is this feature of how I deal with stress, it’s an outlet for how I release stored up energy. With music, I don’t have a self-imposed direction around it and that has been very, very liberating.” 

While Amy doesn’t get to perform or make music as much as she’d like, music remains a portal that is precious and necessary for her. Ahead of her Quiet Life performance, Amy notes that this is a rare moment, saying that “we get asked to play shows often but it’s just not humanly possible for Dean and I – with childcare, rehearsals, preparation – so when we do perform, it’s very much the right space and context for us.” As for the performance itself and without giving too much away, Amy notes that the first song is especially picked by her and the band for Danilo, Quiet Life’s founder; “the set is going to start with one of my favourite songs from an EP called ‘Young’, from when I was pregnant with the twins. The song is called ‘Frank’ which is my daughter’s name, and it features an ad-lib; a sound that we stumbled onto by mistake, almost secretly encoded into the track. Dean had this really weird machine at the music school that we used to produce at – and it was broken, which made this terrible sound. We realised that if we could turn it lower and compress it a bit more, it would make this really beautiful hum. So the song starts with this long note, which adds so much length. It’s Danilo’s favourite song – so we are starting with that one. We will also be doing a lot of new songs, too.”

As for the future of Amy’s music? Well, it’s a constantly evolving space. Having transmuted seismic portions of grief, Amy’s next release is her self-described favourite style; “I love sad music. I just wanna write sad shit – it’s comforting.” With a decade-long discography and transient musical career, I am left feeling the rarity of Amy’s music – a very unique space in which her music works for her, as part of her whole life. Amy Ayanda is, beyond labels and job descriptions, an embodiment of how many strands there can be for an artist to weave. 

Listen to Amy Ayanda HERE

TICKETS ARE NOW SOLD OUT for ‘Quiet Live 003’ featuring Amy Ayanda and Kozo Zwane’
Friday, 2nd February 
19h00 to 23h00
The Avalon Theatre, Homecoming Centre

Portraiture photographed by Jesse Navarre Vos

Written by: Holly Beaton

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

‘New Year, New Me’ – A realistic guide on resolutions and what’s in and out for 2024

Jan 24, 2024 | Navigating Reality, Lifestyle

Somehow, we are already approaching the end of January; the start of 2024 is racing by at unprecedented speed. Schools are up and running and corporate cubicles have already drained their occupants of all the festive joy that they had clutched to, while gyms around the country are both overcrowded and simultaneously sneering at the sheer amount of people who will have to pay penalties for cancelling their memberships early. 

New Year’s resolutions rarely stick. A Time Magazine article claims that a staggering 80% of people fail to keep to their resolutions by February and only around 8% stick with them throughout the year. I am guilty of this myself, going from a dedicated two hours of studying Korean daily to a quick toilet lesson to keep my stupid little streak alive (oh, the shame). So, instead of hanging your head in shame, think of the new year as an opportunity to pick up some new things and rethink your routine. Let’s not try and completely reinvent ourselves when we can rather take more overarching steps that benefit us and those around us.

After Hours by Shauna Summers, via DTS

IN:

Therapy as a form of self-care: This is precisely what I mean when I refer to a more overarching approach because self-care will look different for every person. It’s not all about facemasks and candles and meditating or getting to the gym. You might be the most active person with their diet absolutely dialled in, but that has led to an unhealthy and unbalanced approach to daily life. Self-care can be as simple as getting out of the house, keeping active even if that activity level is minimal and prioritising activities and actions that bring a sense of fulfilment but the one bit of self-care I’d recommend to everyone is therapy. Fuck, get everyone you can on that. Friends, family and lovers alike . Learning to understand and manage our triggers is one of the most sane and valuable things we can do for ourselves. Let’s be honest; we have no chance to look at our own lives and experiences objectively. It’s important for every human, at some point, to speak to a professional about what they’re going through, have been through and to evaluate areas of self that need healing and addressing. It doesn’t always have to be a long dramatic endeavour, for some it might be simpler than for others but check in, evaluate and evolve. It will do wonders for your personal, professional and romantic lives.  I’d also like to include in this self-care segment, physical health; getting enough sleep (guys, we’re ageing) – or, even the most banal forms of self-care like getting that mole checked out or actually going for blood tests to see if you are in fact, gluten intolerant- hell, even start on some supplements. Why shouldn’t we feel our best?

Sort of digital detoxes: Now, hold up, don’t go on that digital detox just yet. I need you to read this article for me to get paid. However, this is an important issue that I think we often hear about without truly internalising its reality. Most of us are utterly addicted to the very device you’re reading this on. We are wasting away our lives on pure screen time alone. South Africans actually average the most screen time per day globally (around 9h 27m); not that I’m surprised – I see way too many people literally scrolling through TikTok while driving on the highway. Being online is an essential aspect of modern society. It is a treasure trove of information, but once again, if you’re consuming TikTok on the highway or spending more of your day on Instagram than you are in real life, you’re getting robbed of reality. Get outdoors, give yourself a buffer in the morning before doom scrolling and set up times that devices aren’t allowed so that you can be present and, I mean, fully present for those important people around you.

All things adulting: This is most certainly the hardest of all of the in’s because, well, even at the best of times, adulting is a fucking nightmare. Taxes, rent, saving for holidays, being able to save at all in a crippling cost of living crisis while my disdain for my medical aid provider grows by the second as they increase my monthly payment every three months? All of it is too much, but unfortunately, we have to do it.. I’m trying to save up for my wedding in Korea, all while feeling like I’m in an inescapable chokehold of monthly expenses when my debit orders do catastrophic damage to my bank balance. Frankly, I’m failing, but fortunately, that is all also part of the ebb and flow of adulting. I’d like to recommend a book by Sam Beckbessinger, ‘How to Manage Your Money like a Fucking Grownup: The Best Money Advice You Never Got’. Also, do your taxes. 

Being Politically Active as a South African: This is not the time and place for an at-length discussion about politics and certainly not with regards to the complexities thereof on a global and domestic scale, but given that it is an election year and given that this election plays a significant role in determining the trajectory of our country for at least a 5-year cycle I can no longer sit by as people complain about shortcomings in SA all while silently observing from the outside. The global geopolitical chaos of 2023 illuminated the need for political participation on both a global and particularly local level. Let’s not forget that decades of oppression and discrimination were fought against for a chance at democracy, for the right for all South Africans over 18 of all races and gender identities to choose who they want to represent them. I get that we feel let down, that it feels somewhat hopeless, that it feels like nothing much will change. That is certainly true when the youth’s fate is predominantly left to those who don’t represent our interests. Around 63.3% of South Africa’s population are people in the 15 to 34 age category, according to Statistics South Africa in 2020, but we have always been vastly outnumbered at the polls. There are, however, promising signs as 78.31% (445 089) of newly registered voters from November last year formed part of this demographic. So, this is more of a call to action. I know it can be depressing and overwhelming to be constantly bombarded with just how fragile our world is. Still, whether you participate privately or publicly, we simply have to participate. See you at the polls.

Photographed by Sora Shimazaki, via Pexels

Photographed by Sarah Chai, via Pexels

OUT:

Self-doubt: We can all be our best selves all the time. Creeping doubts are a normal part of day-to-day life. Channelled correctly, these doubts can be impactful precursors to immense growth as they tend to be reflective periods in which we can really hunker down and see what we want to keep and what we’d like to scrap. I am, however, referring more to the absolutely debilitating levels of self-doubt that feel paralysing—imposter syndrome on a professional and personal level. Let’s get this straight absolutely no one has it all figured out. No one knows what the fuck their doing, and that’s sort of the beauty of it all. There’s no need to feel left behind or embarrassed and certainly no reason to be inauthentic because, frankly, we’re all just moths flying endlessly from light to light, trying to figure shit out.

Self-destruction: I more than most often advocate for some level of hedonism, often adopting a “why the hell not” attitude and seeing where the chips fall. Unfortunately for me, that usually means a spiral into a deep depressive episode that takes weeks, if not months, to get out of, so in 2024, we are leaving all that shit behind. Look, I’m not saying don’t enjoy yourself. I, for one, am still going to indulge in my hedonistic tendencies, but the keyword here has to be balance. No more binges, body banging off the wall benders or breaking yourself down in self-pity. 

Over time/thinking/consumption: We are leaving many “overs”  this year. First and foremost is overtime. Granted, sometimes it has to be done, whether you’re an employee or self employed but once again guys, balance is key. You’re not good professionally if you’re burnt out.. Secondly, this year, we really need to leave overthinking behind. Imagine we are playing out whole scenarios before they even happen based on what assumptions, at best fucking miss me with that. I feel like I already have a million things to think of on a day-to-day basis, and simply put, I will try not to allow myself to spend a lot of that time fixated on fantasy. Last but not least, overconsumption. There simply is too much of a good thing, and wastage across the board is insane. We throw away an absolutely ridiculous amount of food, trends die, and items end up in landfills. The sheer demand for things means we are burning through crucial resources faster than they would ever be able to be replenished. So, this is a call to be more mindful. Buy smaller shopping carts and make sure you use everything, eat your leftovers, curate small but functional wardrobes, buy quality over quantity, and, most of all, be conscious of every consumer action you take. 

Not being present for yourself and others: I may have touched on this in the digital detox segment, but I mean it differently within this context. At the core of it, life is fundamentally one big game of time management. It’s finite and inevitably ends for all of us, so your job, above all else, is to choose how you will spend it. This brings me to my point: spend it wisely. Drop the “I’ll do it tomorrow” attitude because you’re only stealing your time and consuming that invaluable resource. Similarly, this also extends to respecting other people’s time. Fuck fashionably late, be there when you agreed on and be present. Time is the most valuable asset, so don’t neglect it.

Photographed by Ron Lach, via Pexels

Let me level with you. I’m not surprised that the failure rate of New Year’s resolutions is that high. Frankly, I don’t think people are all that desperate to change. We are a collection of flaws and frailties of self-loathing and doubt. We are acutely aware of all our shortcomings, but at the end of the day, they make us who we are. I don’t expect anyone ever to completely turn their life around and become a gym freak, a raw vegan health nut who never does anything wrong. Hopefully this is a guide on how you and I can be even more likeable to ourselves and those around us.

Written by: Casey Delport

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

Smalltown Beat’s stripped back and pristine experience

Jan 23, 2024 | Music, Community

Festival culture is intrinsic to the human experience. It seems that beyond the more mundane requirements for survival; people share a common, instinctual pull towards gathering, connecting and dancing – bathed in auditory waveforms, in the pursuit of freedom. In the last three decades, South Africa has developed a richly embedded and diverse festival culture; from the smallest, unknown parties to the biggest meetings of genres and sonic disciplines, held across the country’s surreal array of landscapes. While the genesis of crafted and curated festival, Smalltown Beat, by co-founders Brendan Rodgers, Luke Hunter and James de Beer, is an offering towards South Africa’s festival lineage; it is also decidedly something new; stripped back and pristinely intended, as a festival focused on how soundscape and landscape can intertwine, uninterrupted. 

Smalltown Beat was founded in 2018 with the view to interrupt the seemingly selected, exclusive nature of the electronic music scene; the way in which certain artists break in, while others remain outliers until their moment (hopefully) comes. For the Smalltown Beat founders, there was simply to much profundity and complexity arising out of South Africa’s music scene for this seeming imbalance to go unchecked – as Brendan explains, “James and I met at university – despite being in the same class, we actually only met and became friends on the dancefloor at a club – we went onto run events together, later joined by our other co-founder, Luke. We managed Kinky Disco together and when that came to an end, we saw a need in the electronic music scene and festival space in Cape Town, specifically for a platform for younger, less known artists who weren’t able to break into the circles of the bigger festivals and line-ups. Smalltown Beat was created to fill this niche. Our first edition hosted 15 collectives, across three dancefloors and there was a feeling that this was definitely something special.”

 

Sandrien Spotlight No Text

Smalltown Beat, 2022.

This is why, perhaps, since its founding; Smalltown has emerged to hold a cult-like following – your favourite producer’s favourite festival, as it were.  Brendan mentions the cessation experienced (by most) due to the ‘lost years’ of the COVID19 pandemic, saying that “in our second year, we grew quite a bit and doubled our attendance, which allowed us to upgrade the festival and refine production. Then the pandemic hit and we couldn’t do anything for close to three years.”

When Smalltown Beat returned in November 2022, their vision had been transformed; perhaps this was from the restraint of the pandemic, in which the concept of ‘less is more’ became a guiding principle for the founders. The shift for Smalltown Beat is that it is now presented in a minimalistic aesthetic. In the kaleidoscopic terrain of festival culture; this pared back, bare-bones approach is a defining feature of Smalltown’s offering and commitment to simplicity, executed exceptionally. As Brendan reflects, “a lot had changed when we returned. Our entire view on festivals and how they should operate somehow changed – so Smalltown’s entire aesthetic started to shift, as a result. After the pandemic, we lost our venue and that was a very difficult hurdle to overcome. I ended up reaching out to our friends, the organisers of Search, to ask if we could use their venue as an interim stop, as we look for our own home. They were very kind in letting us do this.”

In anticipation for their next edition – over three days commencing on 9 February – Smalltown Beat will be consecrating their new, permanent home. The mystical landscape of the Overberg (a favourite region of South Africa’s festival scene) sees Brendan, James and Luke inaugurating Smalltown’s future at Vadersberg Farm. Finding Vadersberg Farm has unlocked a new, temporal outlook for the festival – as Brendan says, “it’s this beautiful spot between Caledon and Napier, sitting just on a hilltop between a pine forest, with amazing green pastures. The owners have been incredible; it’s so rare to find venue owners who are willing and open to work with you on a long-term plan, especially around making permanent alterations to the land that ultimately benefit both of us. We have more than enough space to grow.”

 

Ogazon

Off The Meds

ItaloJohnson

While there are many, many factors involved with creating a festival; Smalltown Beat’s essence hinges on their sonic offering. Despite being a young festival, their roster and relationships with international and local artists alike have provided them with incredible repute. Notably, Brendan explains that “we have an amazing bill of artists this year. We have Ogazón – who I can’t call a rising star anymore, after the year she had in 2023. Ogazòn made numerous appearances at many of Europe’s top venues and festivals in 2023 along with regular appearances at venues such as Berghain, which is a testament to her skill and a clear indication of consistency.  As good a DJ as she is, she’s an even better person. Ogazón actually played at Smalltown Beat in 2022 and we are really excited to welcome her back in 2024.” Then, the Saturday evening will prove to be a full-circle moment for Smalltown, as Brendan notes that “we have ItaloJohnson playing, who are a legendary act in underground circles across the world. They were completely anonymous for about ten years, no one knew who they were – in every single interview, they never gave their names – all the pictures were the back of their heads. ItaloJohnson actually influenced a lot of my view on electronic music culture, because for them it really is about the music. So, to book them after listening to them after eight years is a dream come true. I think when they start playing on Saturday, I’m going to start crying.”

The Smalltown sonic manifesto is simple, “we’ve put a lot of emphasis on the curation of the music. We really try to make it as cohesive as possible, but with a good sense of dynamism and a wide variety. The attention to detail and quality of production is our primary focus – so that our array of artists can perform to the best of their ability.” Smalltown Beat 2024 will spread across two dancefloors. On the first floor, Brendan describes the space as ‘the lighter side of things’ – with live acts such as iconic jazz collective Kujenga, Swedish and South African experimental, electronic DJ/rap group Off The Meds, as well as DJs and producers offering house, disco and so on. As is Smalltown Beat tradition, the Saturday night will be held by Cape Town collectives, Slow Down and Atom, in a seance-style long-form set, playing from 2am to around 9am , as Brendan says, “they get the entire dancefloor under their spell, its trance inducing – Slow Down and Atom are an integral part of Smalltown.” On the ‘darker’ side, the second floor is set in the pine forest; a forest-floor encompassed by electro, techno, house and other genres – sometimes blended together within each set, focused on club-style and higher-energy sounds during the Saturday evening.

Smalltown Beat 2024, Line Up

Sandrien Spotlight No Text 

Limited to 2000 to 2500 people, Brendon notes that “we’re very aware that festivals are a financial luxury. Not a lot of people who enjoy electronic music have the opportunity to attend, so we have created subsidised tickets.” For food and drinks; Smalltown has invited an array of incredible vendors; some familiar to the festival, and others new. In collaboration with One Park’s newest venture, low-intervention wine bar Jazz Pony, the festival will be offering a selection of natural wines as a smooth accompaniment to the weekend; a new offering beyond our beloved papsak culture. This drive towards refinement leaves Smalltown Beat as forging a path for a local offering that has legs to become a continued cult-favourite; perhaps whispered in passing between vanguards of music across the planet – “have you heard of this forest festival that erupts down in South Africa, every year?”. 

Limited but not exclusive; intimate and purposeful, with no less force of bounce than the biggest dancefloors across the world. Magic. 

Tickets are limited, purchase HERE 

Smalltown Beat 4th Edition 
9 – 12 February, 2024
Vadersberg Farm, Napier, Western Cape

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

‘EXHIBITING FRESHNESS’ – WOOLWORTHS PRESENTS #STYLEBYSA WITH OLIVER ‘SCUMBOY’ POHORILLE

Jan 22, 2024 | Fashion, Community

In 2014, South African retailer Woolworths (affectionately known as Woolies) launched StyleBySA, a groundbreaking competition showcasing how style and fashion is represented in South Africa; ten winners were selected to showcase their own edits, through their own lens. This series, #STYLEBYSA, continues as a celebration of this legacy thereafter into 2024 (check out the Spring Summer 2017 iteration, here).

So, when we talk about a synergistic relationship between brands and the creative wayshowers of South Africa; Woolies were among the first to be fully, locally focused. In 2024, #STYLEBYSA is back, with Woolworths revisiting their focus on a new generation of creatives as embodiments of the curated essentials and sartorial elevation for which the brand is so known and loved. 

Through a personal campaign featuring (and created by) 3D designer and creative director, Oliver ‘Scumboy’ Pohorille, Woolworths signal the call to step into 2024 armed in the cosy comforts & clean sophistication of their New In menswear drop. This campaign series is Woolworths’ love-letter to creatives – rooted in a commitment to showcasing their creative autonomy and ingenuity. For Oliver’s campaign, this meant free-reign to situate his New In edit in his ever-evolving, digital universe; a universe so magnanimous, Oliver was recognized in 2022 as part of Dazed Magazine’s Top 100 creatives in the world, and has worked with global brands such MTV, Nike, Puma and Paco Rabanne.

In a digital, visual artwork layout, Oliver’s edit exhibits how fashion has the potential to be integrated into the digital age, specifically through his technological medium and groundbreaking artistic skillset. Oliver describes what informed the development of the campaign, “I am able to create worlds with the software that I use – and I was specifically drawn to the idea of ‘newness’ and this being launched in the new year. Something that I really love is taking nature as a guide for my work. Nature has this beautiful way of exhibiting freshness, especially in the coming and going, and waxing and waning of life. I based this piece around natural environments that you might see on another planet. I’m always looking to juxtapose nature with urban environments; so cinder blocks and nature intertwine. Kind of like Cape Town, actually, where nature and cityscapes live so closely together.” 

Oliver’s edit is the essential Back to Work, Back to Life sartorial roadmap that we need; a mix of athleisure and smarter pieces that prioritises comfort, with an edge that can mix and match; basically, the perfect uniform for creatives. 

Oliver explains that he has “failed and succeeded a lot in my life – more failures than not, but those failures have taught me to be who I am and have led to where I am now.” and going into the future for 2024, Oliver shares his vision for the country, saying “my hope is for unity. We work better when we’re together, there’s no place like South Africa, we have so many creative and intuitive ideas that are unique to us – if we can sort out the widespread issue that we face, our potential is unlimited.” 

With the energy of this campaign defined by ‘newness’, we see this spirit as the dynamic pursuit of experiences and ideas; let 2024 be full of newness, freshness and innovation. As Woolworth continues their path of constant reinvention and evolution, we welcome the return of #STYLEBYSA  – and the creatives who are shaping the sartorial language of South Africa.

SHOP OLIVER’S #STYLEBYSA EDIT HERE 

Written by: Holly Beaton

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

The Rise of the Sober Curious Movement

Jan 18, 2024 | Lifestyle, Community

I was at a lunch over the weekend in which I experienced the most exceptional array of non-alcoholic cocktails, paired with a tasting menu. As a sober person, this is a rarity; traditionally, non-alcoholic beverages have erred on the side of either non-existence or mediocrity. Today, this is not so. With the rise of non-alcoholic beers, spritzers, wines – even spirits – it is easier than ever to mindfully socialise, still with a cute and yummy drink in hand. This is the essence of the ‘Sober Curious’ movement, a term popularised by author and speaker Ruby Warrington in her book, “Sober Curious: The Blissful Sleep, Greater Focus, Limitless Presence, and Deep Connection Awaiting Us All on the Other Side of Alcohol.” After an intensely festive holiday season, many are undertaking the yearly ritual of ‘Dry January’; itself a kind of sober curious practice, in which not drinking alcohol is the perfect new year reset. 

I must preface this piece by stating that I am not intending to address addiction or alcoholism; though, I am sober because I am an addict. My sobriety is not out of curiosity or specific ‘choice’ per se; when I pick up a drink or drug, all bets are off and my life becomes a series of volcanic eruptions, with me as the veritable lava creating chaos in my path. Believe me, I have years of experience with this. So, though I wouldn’t consider myself part of the sober curious movement, I do have some pretty direct lived experience as a fully sober person; I hope it gives me some kind of legitimacy to walk you through a life beyond alcohol.

Photographed by Caldo, courtesy of DTS

Alcohol is considered the most socially accepted mind-altering substance in the world and despite my own journey, I strongly believe that any consenting adult should be able to clearly choose how they alter their minds and with what, providing it does not impede on their wellness or the wellness of others. The pervasiveness of alcohol consumption in the 21st century is founded in a variety of factors; some ancient, some modern. From the brewing and fermenting cultures of Mesopotamia in 4000 BCE, we see some of the earliest indications of beer production in The “Hymn to Ninkasi,” a Sumerian poem that serves as both a religious ode to the goddess of beer, Ninkasi, and a practical guide to brewing. Alcohol consumption has had a firm position as one of most socially and ritually rooted acts as human beings. Mix this with the economic impact of alcohol today and the fact that it’s a really, really great social lubricant; it’s easy to see how alcohol’s influence on society has seemed unshakable. 

Last year, the World Health Organisation declared that studies have found that no level of alcohol consumption is safe for human health. Now without any fear-mongering, what this means is that alcohol is a risk no matter how or what you consume – not even the ‘glass of red’ typically associated with Mediterranean diets, that was once purported to enhance cardiovascular health. This does not suggest to people that they should stop drinking, as the benefit that alcohol can yield is more ‘quality of life oriented’; such as the social experience, or the deep interest held by wine or whiskey connoisseurs alike. It is just worth noting that alcohol is risky, and with any risky behaviour, mindfulness is the best space from which to make any decisions. 

Our relationship with alcohol should be a mindful one and this is what the sober curious movement focuses on. Without any shame or guilt, choosing to explore varying forms of sobriety is asserted by awareness of our body, mind and what we want our lives to look and feel like. I am a big advocate for any and everyone to evaluate their relationship with alcohol; is it possible to find deeper connection to ourselves and others, without alcohol, or at least with less alcohol? How much of the drinking that we do, is out of conscious choice and how much of it out of  habit or social normativity? The sober curious pathway hinges on the words ‘curiosity’ – an open-ended exploration that is inquisitive and sensitive in nature, without any requirement to choose and maintain any particular decision. This sense of self-determination is what can make choosing to weave sobriety (whether specific days, periods or overall) into one’s life so empowering.

Cutting down on booze can lead to notable improvements in physical health, such as enhanced sleep quality, increased energy levels and greater physical resilience (especially when pursuing fitness or health goals). We also know that alcohol is classed as a central nervous system depressant, meaning that alcohol slows down the activity of the brain and nervous system, leading to an overall reduction in brain activity. So, a result of more time spent sober is very likely to lead to improved mental well-being, clearer thinking, heightened cognitive function and emotional stability – and if there’s one thing I do not miss about drinking, it is the next-day-anxiety or hangover demons.

Mindful Mess photographed by Shauna Summers, courtesy of DTS

Our culture seems to be pursuing health and wellness as cornerstones of living a good life; with increased focus on quality and longevity. It also seems that sober curiosity is forming part of an exciting new wave in the beverage industry; with ‘mixology’ taking new heights as explorations of taste, scent and health-benefits. I think of Bella Hadid’s Kin Europhics brand, self-described as ‘non-alcoholic, functional beverages’ which include adaptogenic, nootropic and botanical ingredients to assist with stress management, brain function and sensory pleasure. How cool? 

Sober curiosity as a conversation has been a hot topic at trend analytic giant WGSN’ – their Create Tomorrow podcast released an episode last year titled ‘Low & No Alcohol – The Sober-Curious Movement’, featuring a really interesting conversation between Executive Editorial Director Bethan Ryder, Director of Food & Drink Jennifer Creevy and Food & Drink Strategists Rachel Tan and Millie Diamond. Rachel Tan noted that in their analysis of consumer and brand trends, “when people are thinking about low-and-no drinks, they mostly think of dealcoholised beer or de-alcoholised wine, non-alcoholic versions of classic cocktails. But what we’re forecasting is the premiumisation of this category and the rise of new non-alcoholic classics that can stand on their own two feet, so more sophisticated options offering complex flavours, mature drinking experiences, but without alcohol and without imitating alcohol.” 

Additionally, Millie Diamond spoke to the ‘Kin Europhics’ effects, in which people are using non-alcoholic drinks as a sophisticated method to explore functional ingredients like mushrooms and CBD, noting that “another quick thing that we called out in terms of premiumisation is functional ingredients. So different varieties of mushroom like reishi to reduce stress, or cordyceps for an energy boost. Kava, CBD and cannabis are also being used as mood boosters. So replacing the alcohol content with ingredients that add multiple different benefits, particularly for mental health.” When exploring your sober options, it’s important to note that non-alcoholic drinks contain no alcohol (0.0%) while dealcoholized drinks, on the other hand, undergo a process to significantly reduce alcohol content (typically <0.5%) from original alcoholic beverages like beer or wine. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but non-alcoholic implies an absence of alcohol, while de-alcoholized suggests a reduction in alcohol content.

Locally, there are myriad of options emerging in the alcohol-free space; whether its my favourite beer, Devil’s Peak Hero, or a yummy Kombucha by Culture Lab (they even did a functional mushroom collab with Aether Apothecary last year) while spaces like Drink Nil, a one-stop shop for local non-alcoholic beverages – encourage a sensory curiosity beyond your favourite booze. Then, there is a CEC favourite DOPE, a CBD-infused spring water drinks; and brands like Seedlip,  your answer to non-alcoholic spirits and bitters – as well as The Duchess, the best non-alcoholic G&T you could fathom. The practice of mindful drinking has never been more exciting or consumer-led; so get creative, get mixing and wake up after a night out, feeling better than ever. We love to see it.

Photographed by Ivan Resnik, courtesy of DTS

Disclaimer: 
This article is intended for informational and exploratory purposes only. It does not aim to provide guidance or support for individuals dealing with substance use disorders or alcohol addiction. If you or someone you know is struggling with alcohol-related issues or substance abuse, we strongly encourage seeking professional help from qualified healthcare providers, counsellors, or addiction specialists. 

This article does not replace professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and the content is not designed to address specific personal circumstances. The focus is on the cultural and social aspects of sober curiosity, promoting a mindful approach to alcohol consumption without intending to minimise the seriousness of addiction. Always consult with appropriate professionals for personalised guidance and support related to substance use disorder.

 If you feel you might have a problem, please refer to the following resources:
Alcoholics Anonymous South Africa’s helpline 
Narcotics Anonymous South Africa’s helpline 
South African Depression and Anxiety Group helplines

Written by: Holly Beaton

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za