In Drawing Room, local designers invite international designers they admire to an international meeting of graphic form in its broadest sense. This evening, the Malmö-based artist Nontokozo Tshabalala has invited the South African illustrator and animator Charles Zulu where they will jointly share their work and artistic journeys.
Conversation and lecture
When Charles Zulu and Nontokozo Tshabalala meet at the Form/Design Center, they have chosen to call their conversation Designing While Afrikan with the Ghost Town Kids with the hope that it will represent the work they want to create with other creatives from their shared hometown of Standerton in South Africa
During the evening, the two designers will share – great determination and creativity, how they managed to build careers in design and illustration that are fostered by the love of image creation and community - despite the fact that neither of them had any role models growing up.
"At the core of our very separate practices the question how to decolonise communication design encourages us towards self-discovery, often infusing culture, social commentary and even speculation of the future.”
Live stream
Watch the conversation on Nontokozos Facebook page here
Registraton
Register for free here
About Charles Zulu
Charles Zulu, or Charles Tranquil as he also calls himself, has been active as a designer in South Africa for six years and does everything from illustration, brand design and motion design. He is driven by the philosophy that in a digital age it is highly necessary to be a "jack of all trades and a master of none" to create communications that continuously push the boundaries of what is possible.
Zulu describes his work as colourful, sometimes chaotic, painfully optimistic and heavily influenced by street culture and everyday stories. Working mostly in advertising, he has gone from traditional graphic designer to self-taught professional multimedia designer, exploring the many facets of the design landscape. Some notable South African brands and projects he’s worked on include: Number One Mageu, Varsity College, Nik Naks, Sunlight, Wild Island.
About Nontokozo Tshabalala
Nontokozo Tshabalala, who also goes by Future_of_Brown (F.O.B), is an award winning multidisciplinary artist, Afrofuturist, speaker and designer currently based in Malmö. Born and raised in Standerton, South Africa, she uses her work as an avenue for posing deeper questions about her identity and the Black experience wherever she goes. Inspired by her nephew, Siyamthanda (Ncufi), she writes and creates from a place of curiosity and instinct often using colour, collage, song and poetry to express her thoughts.
Within her vast practice, she’s also co-curated her first show called Neither Here Nor There (2020) which showed at Konsthall Blå Stället, done work for Facebook Africa and The Africa Centre (London) and Future Brown Space (Sweden). Her work has been shown at The Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA) Extended, Malmö Konsthall, The National Museum of World Culture (Gothenburg), and Röda Sten Konsthall (Gothenburg).
Tshabalala is the co-founder of Mam'Gobozi Design Factory, a design studio celebrating the Afrikan identity through creativity. She has recently been announced as one of the winners of the Mail & Gaurdian Top 200 Young South Africans.
