Toffie Fest a great success

WORDS: Remy Raitt & Carine Visagie | PHOTOS: Nadine Theron

The Cape Town City Hall was transformed into a spectacle of design, art, fashion, music, film and creative thinking for the second Toffie Popular Culture Festival that ran from 24 – 26 March 2011 at this historic venue.

On 24 March, delegates were treated to the Festival’s first boxing match, which took place during lunch on each consecutive Festival day. Highlights of the afternoon included talks by local creative heroes Andrew Putter and Conn Bertish.

Chatting about the ‘Sketch Assembly’ project, which Andrew Putter and a team completed last year at the UCT Michaelis School of Art, the artist explained how the students managed to capture the imagined romantic relationships of the Khoi Khoi people and the 16^th Century Dutch settlers in the Cape.

The result of the project was four photographs that directly referenced representations of young Khoi Khoi people and Merrymaker images, subverted to include a “sexiness” between the two cultures. The team recreated everything from the clothing, sets and props, to the styling, photographing and editing of the pictures – on a shoestring budget.

Executive Creative Director of JWT Cape Town, Conn Bertish, was introduced as being “über extreme”. The big wave surfer, downhill skater, Fear Factor winner and provocateur utilises creativity in every dimension of his life.

An avid doodler, Conn shared some of his illustrations in-between showcasing some of his most celebrated work. Humour, playing on emotion and studying the human condition all seem to form part of Conn’s work and play. From controversial YDE adverts, environmentally focused surf videos and hysterical sign boards placed across Cape Town, Conn has his finger on the pulse of South African creativity and it seems he has the artistic energy to often quicken it through his ingenuity and innovation.

More inspiration on Friday

Friday, 25 March, was jam-packed with more interesting presentations from local and international pop-culture experts.

Talks included a mind-boggling presentation by Swiss designer Jürg Lehni, who showcased his Hektor robot and accompanying software. Hektor can be programmed to create spectacular spray-paint drawings on a massive scale.

The presentation by South African architects Sean Mahoney and Pierre Swanepoel (StudioMAS) also had conference delegates talking. The celebrated architects beautifully demonstrated how to integrate nature into architecture in subtle ways, using the Circa on Jellicoe gallery in Johannesburg as a prime example.

Celebrated hip-hop artist Tumi Molekane gave delegates an inside look into the life and aims of a local musician. Screening his music videos and spitting freestyle raps to the audience, Tumi shared his view to speak to the country about the country through music that reaches a diverse audience.

More boxing matches, tours into the minds of creatives at the different film screenings, exhibition rooms and a spectacular collaboration between the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra and artists Peach van Pletzen and Tumi Molekane on Friday evening kept festival goers buzzing.

Making words speak

The final day of the three-day affair saw the world’s foremost typography expert, Alex Trochut, explaining fifteen of his different projects and the processes that lead up to his final products, which includes a Rolling Stones album cover and gig posters for Arcade Fire and The Decemberists. Using conceptual fonts, this artist and designer really makes words speak.

Amsterdam-based graphic designer Jonathan Puckey kicked off his presentation by showcasing a prototype writing system that adds texture to typography by measuring the pressure applied to a computer keyboard. The highlight of his talk, however, was a demonstration of a plug-in for Adobe Illustrator that creates remarkable triangular portraits. One such image – portraying Google co-founder Larry Page – made the cover of Wired magazine.

All the energy, education and inspiration culminated on Saturday night at the dress-up Sailors and Secretaries After-party. Local DJs, including Sibot and Dirty Paraffin, kept the crowd moving till the wee hours of the morning.

This year, organisers Hannerie Visser and Peet Pienaar, as well as the rest of the team from The President design studio, certainly proved that the Toffie Popular Culture Festival is a must-visit event on the Cape Town creative calendar. We can’t wait for next year!

More information: http://toffiepop.blogspot.com/