COVER FEATURE Thandiwe Gula-Ndebele Multidisciplinary Storyteller 20

COVER FEATURE

G U L A T H A N D I W E

November/December Issue

Johannesburg based filmmaker Thandiwe Gula-Ndebele mentions that his upbringing is his greatest source of inspiration because it grounds him in everything he expresses. He further explains that it provides him with context that helps one to understand his motives and intentions behind the stories he tells. He explains that storytelling is a way to create space for understanding, for intimacy, connection, healing and release, it' s a tangible way for himself and others to experience freedom because it externalises and brings into community what is usually felt inside or in isolation, and it gives language and visibility to experiences that otherwise feel difficult to share or translate. It is an important way to build worlds and reimagine ourselves, because of its power to influence people and perspectives, it is a sacred tool and means through which cultures have been preserved and evolved. "My mother was a nurturing force who encouraged me to pursue any passion I had, while my father pushed me to learn and excel in many skills and artforms. From a young age my father taught me about the importance of freedom- in mind, body and spirit, my parents and grandparents anchored an appreciation for love and community within me that I consider to be the backbone of my work. Growing up, I spent a lot of time in my formative years with my grandmother who was a nurse. The people she worked with loved her, so much so that when she brought me to work with her, they were kind and generous to me. Being around that energy at an early age and seeing my mom and dad be pillars of their community and family instilled a deep desire to be a helpful and caring person. The work I do today is rooted in helping people in one way or another, but mostly in sharing the feelings of freedom, love and belonging " she says.

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Walk us through how you established yourself as a brand.

For as long as I can remember I've yearned for a sense of belonging and invested in ideas, connections and spaces that made me feel safe and seen, so even as I was starting out in the film and art industries, I focused on building relationships with people who I shared values with. I sought out to learn and play as much as possible, more so by doing than anything else. To develop my skills, I connected with classmates and friends who were eager to experiment and just make stuff for fun, and I did that as often as possible with whatever I had access to. During my university years, I made sure to utilise the access I had to film school equipment and made photo stories and music videos that ended up becoming a point of reference for my work, message and style. I was also an intern at a production company I had found and reached out to on twitter. I always stressed my interest in learning and helping out- and I think that helped me build good relationships in the industry. In my final year, I decided to focus on cinematography and was working on The Foxy Five, a web series that ultimately launched my film career. Being on that project cemented my understanding of the kind of work I wanted to be involved in and since then I have aligned myself with projects that I feel are meaningful and empower women and queer community. Through participating in workshops, talks and panel events I engaged with organisations and people with similar interests and eventually got more work aligned with my values. I also seeked mentorship from people whose skills and values I admired, which also opened a lot of doors for me. After a few years working primarily in films I started to focus more on photography and eventually went back into making collages- making films is expensive and I couldn't afford to tell the stories I wanted through film so I started focusing more on photography and digital collages. Over the years, I intuitively worked consistently with movement, colour (especially red) and vivid palettes which I believe established a recognisable style in my work. I think that a combination of my visual style, and consistency of following through with my message, intentions and visions have helped me establish myself as a brand, but most of all it is my focus on community building, connection and empowerment that has been a firm foundation to build from because I would be nowhere without all of the people who I learnt from and received the stepping stones of opportunity that got me where I am today.

November/December Issue

Name three things you want to change about the industry you ' re in and why. I want to change the accessibility of this industry, the barriers to accessing work, equipment and funding to be able to make work really frustrate me because it creates unequal opportunity. I want to change that so that more people can tell their stories, which ultimately creates better representation and understanding. I want to change systems of hierarchy because they promote a culture that values people according to what they can do, how much they earn and how much power they have. I'd rather exist in spaces that value people for who they are and value everyone ’ s contribution equallyI am also eager to change the toxic “ never not working ” culture and mindset of people ’ s value and sense of being enough based on how much they work and produce in creative industries. In the past I' ve experienced the pain of an unhealthy mentality that had me feeling inadequate whenever I was not working or creating. This is a pervasive mindset and promoted culture rooted in capitalism that makes people feel like they are never doing enough, especially when they do not produce work. I want people to believe that they are valuable because they exist, not only because of what they create and offer. I believe that more people will have a healthier relationship with their work, themselves and community if they understand that they are worthy, and that they are enough no matter how much gets done. This society would rather have you believe that you ’ re wasting time or life if you ’ re not always working hard or producing work, but our moments of rest, stillness and nothingness are just as important as the moments of activity. As a creator what does storytelling mean to you and how do you make sure that the story of brand you are working with is told? To me, storytelling is a way to create space for understanding, for intimacy, connection, healing and release, it' s a tangible way for myself and others to experience freedom because it externalises and brings into community what is usually felt inside or in isolation, and it gives language and visibility to experiences that otherwise feel difficult to share or translate. It is an important way to build worlds and reimagine ourselves, because of its power to influence people and perspectives, it is a sacred tool and means through which cultures have been preserved and evolved. In order to make sure that the story of a brand I am working with is told, I learn the intentions and background of the brand, so that I have an understanding of its impact, its priorities and its culture, these three aspects are what usually connect people, and my main aim in storytelling is to bridge gaps and create a sense of intimacy that comes down to human connection, the things that make us tap into our humanity are the things that bring us together or help us understand each other. So I always keep a lookout for the way a brand enhances life experience and translates as an integral part of people ’ s lives.

November/December Issue

'Kudendere'

What creative work do you do in your own time? In my own time I dance, I paint and draw and generally go with the flow of creating in intuitive ways- from making collages,video pieces, to photography, writing, and working with my hands in any way, it' s quite diverse. The work I do in my own time is a sort of roadmap and stencil for my future self or a journal of my current experiences. It is initially quite abstract and reveals its meaning once I reflect on it or add on to it in some way. I listen to my desires and needs and create anything from that space of a genuine urge to express and connect with myself and my ancestors. Sometimes this work becomes a part of the larger body of artwork that I share with the world, other times it doesn 't leave my space, but ultimately I create what feels natural to express, and often learn something about myself, my journey, or my art through it. It' s often the work that I do in my own time that ends up inspiring or informing future projects and collaborations. Please tell us about your upcoming projects Right now, I am very excited to branch into a different medium of art and be paying homage to elders who contributed to collective freedom and catharsis in Zimbabwe back in the 70s. I have been working on this multidisciplinary archiving project that celebrates and tells the story of a Zimbabwean Rock band that pushed messages of freedom and unity during the liberation war. The work has been in progress for a year now and will make its public debut in the last quarter of 2022. Another project that I am extremely excited about is the second iteration of ‘In Flux ’ , an exhibition I co-curated as part of my work with Creative Avenue. The exhibition will be showing in Cape Town in November 2022 with work from some of my favourite emerging artists from Zimbabwe and South Africa

What are you most proud of in your professional experience? I am most proud of teaching my work to highschool and university students, and of the bridges of understanding that the projects I' ve worked on have created, as well as how far this work has reached, going beyond me to countries that I myself

haven 't been to. The honour of teaching workshops based on my artwork, being able to reference my friends and peers ' work and spreading wisdom from Ndebele and Shona culture mean a lot to me. The work I have made has operated as a form of language, for me and others like me who resonate, to understand ourselves and see ourselves mirrored and affirmed beyond the constructs of what society expects us and tells us to be. To be black, transgender nonconforming and spiritually purposed is not easy in this world, and I believe that the work I have made and helped make has assisted in lightening some of the burden on ones like ua.

Do you think that your storytelling ability in a film gives you an edge in television? I believe it' s not necessarily my storytelling ability in a film but it is my ability to tell a story in multiple mediums that gives me an edge. Television is advancing beyond traditional formats now, which I think is a great thing for creators like myself who work in different mediums because it means there ' s space to experiment and bend the norms, incorporating different aspects of film, photography, performance art,collage and visual art storytelling into the television format and production styles. How do you define your work ethics as a multidisciplinary storyteller and how do you make sure you adhere to them? I am guided by compassion, and my ethics are defined by prioritizing the voices and experiences of those who are often erased, silenced and underrepresented. Within that, I believe I have a duty to treat everyone and everything I work with kindly, and as an equally integral part of the result of a creative process, which means that I honour the dignity, agency, and power of every being involved. I make sure that when I work with people, I engage them on how they want to be represented and open up conversation for them to have agency in the creative direction of their story or the story they are helping express. I prioritize well-being, ensuring that all those who are involved have capacity to carry out their role without compromising their physical, mental and spiritual health, this is done through check in ’ s, when I’ m directing or assistant directing I often make time to check in on people and adjust set environment accordingly to create space for support and well-being. I also do not take on any work based on the fear of not earning, or of losing out on opportunities, I only do what feels aligned with my values and spirit.

Can you share an overview of your career strategy? What types of projects do you see yourself involved with in the future? My main strategy is to build community, to align myself with people and organisations who share the same intentions and values of community and empowerment as I do, so that the impact of my work transcends the mediums I work in. I spend time learning and advancing in different fields, from advocacy, to organising, herbalism, curating, teaching, film, photography etc, so that I have a diverse skillset to build a foundation from. I have always wanted to enrich people ’ s lives through what I can share, whether its resources, knowledge or networks. I intend to follow through with that intention and create platforms for young people to access opportunities to invest in their passions early. I want to share as much of what I have learnt as possible and create sustainable programs and enterprises that empower African youth to collaborate, create and express their ideas. I have to some degree been involved in projects that have allowed me to do this, and this is where I see myself investing my energy in the future, I want to work on multidisciplinary projects that not only produce art that is consumed but are also multi-pronged initiatives that have an impact outside of the art world because of the spaces they create for growth, learning, collaboration and accessibility.

Ingilosi Iliqhawe: Amandla Avelaphi? Photomontage - Self Portrait Thandiwe Gula-Ndebele/Folozi Omnyama 2021

Ingilosi Iliqhawe is a meditation on the warrior ' s journey, a reflection on agency, what it means to be seen, known and to be powerful. This iteration explores the idea of personal power and where it comes from, suggesting that one ’ s greatest power lies in their ability to reimagine, and represent themselves, as well as in the lineage, protection and decrees of that lineage over one ’ s life and purpose.

Gallery

922 Digital Collage Thandiwe Gula-Ndebele/Folozi Omnyama 2021 922 is a reflection on the cyclic nature of life ’ s journeys, a celebration of the grace of renewal that comes from walking our purposed paths, it is a reminder to trust where the path we walk no matter how uncertain and unfinished it is, knowing that we have come from further than the beginning of our life, we are guided and protected by those who walked the path before us.

November/December Issue

Gallery

Kudendere, Photomontage Creative Direction by Thandiwe Gula-Ndebele/ Folozi Omnyama Photographed by Nubia Silver, 2020 Kudendere is a Shona word for ‘ nest’ , this image is an ode to a sense of home in an imagined ideal future, where all living beings exist in harmony, and every being plays their part in a well-being centered society that is abundant and never lacks anything required for beings seen and unseen to co-exist and thrive. Pictured is one of the society ’ s “Mhondoro ” resting in their home, the Mhodoro work in tune with the land to guide inhabitants of this imagined society on when and how to cultivate food with the land.

November/December Issue