South African creative Palesa Kgasane brings together creative women of colour in Word To The Womyn Of Colour, a photographic series and short film inspired by the South African women who are changing the game in their respective fields. The 23-year-old founder of The Mzansi Moodboard challenges the lack of representation of women of colour in the media while celebrating their diversity.
Have a seat, let's drink some rooibos tea while we listen to Brenda Fassie.
Only 11 months old, Mzansi Moodboard is a platform that celebrates and showcases young creatives through collaboration and storytelling. “It's inspiring to see how many womyn are responding so positively to the diversity the content brings in a world where there are only certain archetypes of acceptable beauty standards. For example, I'm creating from my heart and I'm approaching and working with young black artists who are doing the same,” explains Kgasane.
Kgasane releases colour coded issues to investigate growth and creative exploration. Her aim is to foster an environment of collaboration. “This is what young people need, a place to collaborate and be supported and exposed,” she adds.
In her latest issue, she uses the colour yellow as a starting point. “I hoped to create a visual narrative that empowers and makes people talk: Who are these womyn? What do they do? Why aren't magazines showing this type of thing?”
Her work is a conversation about how black bodies are documented. According to Kgasane, the series shows appreciation to “the womyn who are already out there being unapologetic about their craft.”
“It was a pleasure to have so many great womyn be part of this series including Kyla Phil, Eden Myrrh, Buhle Ngaba and our photographer Neo Baepi,” she adds.
**Womyn is one of several alternative spellings of the English word women used by some feminists. This is a term used by those who feel that having the word "man" in the word "woman" makes women a subset of men.
