By: Pontšo Sekhesa, Kananelo Moshabesha
From October 2-5, 2024, five members of The Hub team were invited by Chimère communities to attend the Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival. This vibrant African digital festival, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, provided the team with an exciting opportunity to explore the intersection of technology, art, and culture. Through their participation, they gained valuable insights into the current and future potential of the digital space.
On the opening night, The Hub team got to work on a collaborative piece with Raymond MacDonald and Nathalie Ponlot which consisted of a poem that captured the essence of Lesotho and ambient music which was later performed on stage.
During the next few days, The Hub team worked on separate projects in collaboration with Chimère. Ntsie Mabuse and Thabang Ntlale (who did most of the documentation for The Hub Chimère team) worked on a comic book that represented them as a collective (in their younger years) and partnered with Chimère to generate the images that complemented their story. Pontšo Sekhesa worked on a photo story (collage). Kananelo Moshabesha and Teboho Mokapi created artwork using Photo Gel Transfer, which they transferred onto various surfaces like a CPU side panel and plastic lids.
Rewatch live streams of Fak’ugesi events here: fakugesi2024.super.site/livestreams
The Hub team got to rub shoulders with one of SA’s biggest creatives, Kay Kay Ribane who also had an exhibition at the festival under USURPA that showcased Africa’s first digital paintings.
“I attended an interactive workshop designed for content creators, animators, video game producers, architects, and designers. This workshop introduced participants to Indigenous Design Thinking and explored how it can be combined with AI to create alternative African worlds and future imaginaries. Participants learned how to envision alternative African realities that are rooted in a uniquely African perspective, moving beyond generic Afrofuturism. Using philosophical concepts like ontology, constructivism, and reframing, the workshop provided tools to imagine future cities and worlds that are influenced by indigenous ideas and cultural paradigms. I also tried the VR game”
– Kananelo Moshabesha
“I learnt how to prepare a business elevator pitch at the Pitch-a-thon workshop, this is where I got inspired a lot because most of the content showcased and presented is the content I am learning at school. I also attended the Red Bull Basement Spotlight workshop, this is where Red Bull helps innovators build their projects that help the community around them.”
– Teboho Mokapi
“I attended a fascinating session of Games For Change Africa where I experienced the greatness of how games are driving change in education, healthcare, sustainability and civic issues. This session was very empowering as we gained valuable insights from game developers, educators and game changers. It was an honour to meet professionals from around Africa and be in sessions that dug into the future of African Innovation.”
– Pontšo Sekhesa
Creating with Chimère
During the festival, The Hub team created several projects collaborating with Chimère!
Thank you to Chimère and Fak’ugesi!
Learn more about Chimère:
Learn more about Fak’ugesi:
The Hub 