@arm_collectiv Celebrates The Simplicity of Youth by Launching "Nix Mapha"

From the minds of writer, creator and former HYPE Magazine editor Fred Kayembe, and critically acclaimed visual artist and Design Indaba Emerging Creatives award recipient Masonwabe Ntloko, NIX MAPHA references an unpublished article of the same title and pulls on one’s heartstrings by transporting us all the way back to the school playground via one universal experience: the lunchbox (or lack thereof).

“I’ve always lived in the city, where I also attended school,” tells Kayembe, 31. “Masonwabe had a whole different upbringing in Idutywa, in rural Eastern Cape. One day a group of us, all from varying schooling and social backgrounds, were reminiscing about our respective high school experiences and I became fascinated with how one’s lunchtime adventures (and misadventures) can tell in-depth stories about not just an individual’s juicebox preferences, but also about the times, communities and collective circumstances we grew up in; as well as how we interact with them.”

Ntloko adds, “In school the playground is its own world with its own code of conduct, class system, language and currency: food, whether it’s snacks, a packed lunchbox, the tuckshop or the lack of those things, seems to be at the epicenter of all of them. I don’t know if there is anything that speaks more poignantly to our circumstances and the whimsy of childlike creativity as how one goes about feeding themselves at breaktime. We saw this Youth Day as an appropriate opportunity to celebrate and explore this paradigm.”

The NIX MAPHA installation, which asks the question WHAT WAS YOUR GO-TO LUNCHTIME SNACK AT BREAK TIME?, will culminate in the reveal of 3 bespoke Masonwabe Ntloko art pieces. It will also include contributions from friends from the creative community including Shekhinah, Bontle Modiselle, Maglera Doe Boy, YoungstaCPT, Shishiliza, Uncle Partytime and more.

Join us for unveiling of NIX MAPHA for a fun day of 2^nd break games, including JENGA, ARCADE GAMES, PING PONG and more on 16 June 2022 at HALLMARK HOUSE. Sounds on the day will be provided by Lelowhatsgood, Akio, Notbenjamin, Loveslavephola, Rarri, Herc Cut and the Lights.