CITIES ALIVE

The goal that we set for ourselves for our Winter 2010 edition, issue 19, was to stay truer to our form than ever before. As the South African popular culture magazine, we wanted to create a perfect showcase of South African creativity and reinforce the enormous talent that lies in our midst. And what we have accomplished is a perfect balance of just that, with close to 100% local content this edition.

To mark our celebration of all things local, our biggest feature in the magazine is ‘Cities Alive: Why Cape Town, Jozi and Durbs have Heart’. Here, we tour our country’s creative metropoles to get to the heart of what makes these places shine. As an investigation of the people and the places, we try to uncover the real Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban — in order to give you what we like to think of as ‘not-the-Eyewitness Guide’ to urban South Africa.

Our artist selection this issue includes creatives constantly challenging themselves with the question of what it means to be South African — from the provocative graphic art of Anton Kannemeyer, the post-colonialist navigating the Dark Continent, to Kudzi Chiurai who negotiates the roles of African leaders, and Am I Collective, a Cape Town design agency whose palette of talent has been colouring SA’s advertising realm. We take a look at City Slickers, the poster show that’s travelled the nation before jetsetting overseas, and then profile one of its illustrators (Durban artist Greg Darroll) whose work impressed us at the Cape Town leg of the exhibition.

Another great feature to look out for is our new initiative by one small seed network, Selected Creatives. This issue marks its first edition, and the fine array of artists you see showcased, as determined by our online voting poll, shows this is definitely going to be a regular feature to look forward to in future issues of one small seed. Congratulations to our winners, thanks to all our voters, and to all creatives out there, keep adding your work to www.onesmallseed.net and you may be next to see your work featured in our magazine!

On the fashion side, we have a shoot by Chris Saunders flaunting the fabulous autumn/winter collection by Rozanne is…, and then an amazing spread we’re so proud of — Project Aiko: Rise of the Machines — where robotic femmes fatales don the gorgeous range of local couturier Hendrik Vermeulen. A final fashion feature returns to the streets in an African-inspired collaboration between Puma and Kehinde Wiley. Check out their awesome new threads and then read about the artist who inspired them.

A final collaboration this magazine is with Nike for the AFTER 10 Project. Together we have commissioned a group of local artists to envision the future after 2010, and the final works produced are inspirational on so many levels. You’ll find that at the back of the magazine, as its own dedicated section.

For a sneak preview of what’s inside issue 19 of one small seed, click on the online magazine above.

From the team at one small seed, we hope you enjoy our selection of South African pop culture and that, like us, you continue to be ignited by the overwhelming creativity enveloped in these pages. Keep an eye out for our September issue, which will mark five years of one small seed: as our twentieth issue it will definitely be a special one.