Candida Merwe is one of 15 young creatives from Sub-Saharan Africa and the UK invited to take part in ColabNowNow during the Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival 2017. Half way through the programme, while everyone was furiously working away, we asked Candi what she thought about her experience so far:
“I was pleasantly surprised to be selected as a participant in the ColabNowNow open call. What’s interesting for me is that I’ve had a lot of interactions with different artists from Europe. This project is very nice in that it’s African for Africans.”
ColabNowNow is a ten-day digital collaboration platform. The programme is curated by Jepchumba, African art and technology cultural ambassador, and culminates in collaborative work showcased at Fak’ugesi Beats Party on the last day of the festival.
“We’ve got 34 year olds with 24 year olds. So this 10 year difference really allows us to bounce ideas off of each other through different our experiences because obviously with our different mediums, we all have different approaches to dealing with the world that we live in. It’s nice to hear different stories from people from different cities that are a little bit more like Johannesburg. We’re not comparing Joburg to Berlin for example. We’re comparing Joburg to Accra and to Kampala, you know.
“Jepchumba has worked with us this week getting us to a space where we can feel comfortable to work together. I feel like we all trust each other and that’s really amazing, especially for a young artist like myself. I’m only 24 but I’ve been blessed with opportunities to work with a performance artist so I travel with her usually. This is the first thing I’m doing on my own but I don’t feel like I’m alone at all. I’m not intimidated… We’re a small little family that just popped out of nowhere and I feel like this is really beautiful and that’s what’s amazing about the artists working together. “ The creatives have been based
The creatives have been based at the Fak’ugesi festival in Tshimologong Precinct in Braamfontein, Johannesburg where they’ve explored a little bit of the city. “And I think that’s the magic I enjoy traveling but even just to stay here and see my city in a completely different view. It’s giving someone who's local an opportunity to see a very different view of the city and it’s been an enriching experience. I would definitely be keen to do it again.” Follow Candi here:
Follow Candi on Instragram: www.instagram.com/candi_rainbow