21ICONS - Pops Mohamed

Pops Mohamed: “We’re like a pregnant country. We keep giving birth to good things, bad things, whatever it is, but we are here now.”

21 ICONS is a showcase for the South African spirit; a tribute to the men and women who have helped to shape our country and, indeed, our world. The series is part of an annual project which features unique narrative portraits and short films by Adrian Steirn, one of the continent’s pre-eminent photographers and filmmakers. This episode features the seventh icon of its second season: acclaimed musician and producer, Pops Mohamed, who has been playing, protecting, and nurturing traditional ways of making music in South Africa for the last 30 to 40 years.

In an intimate conversation with Steirn, Mohamed talks about his life as a musician; a journey which got its start when he was a boy watching the jazz greats in his hometown of Benoni. Mohamed’s first step towards fulfilling this childhood dream came as a student at Johannesburg’s Dorkay House; a musical hub where sightings of greats like Abdullah Ibrahim weren't uncommon. This fueled Mohamed’s ambitions further, so that when one of the music teachers took a special interest in him, he leaped at the opportunity with alacrity. Mohamed sees his commitment to preserving traditions as “futuristic”. He explains this view: “It’s the same as if you’re having a problem with your hard drive. If we don’t back up things, we lose them. It’s the same with culture. If you don’t know where you’re coming from, you’ll never know where you’re going to. In order to move forward in life you have to take a few steps backwards. You can’t just live for now, or live in the future without understanding your background. It’s not possible.”

Birdwatching at The Loeries Episode 3: The Energy Episode

Episode 3 is the Energy Episode with special guests Kagiso Tshepe, executive creative director at Grid Worldwide, Roanna Williams, chief creative officer and co-founder of Boundless, Fran Luckin, chief creative officer of VML, Preetesh Sewraj, CEO of The Loeries and Brandon Govender, digital & integrated executive creative director at Joe Public.

12 Oct 2024 08:03

Birdwatching at The Loeries Episode 2: The Emotion Episode

Birdwatching at The Loeries Episode 2 is the Emotion Episode and features special guests Neo Segola, head of creative at Le Pub, part of the Publicis Group, Sharleen James, chair of the ACA and marketing practice lead at Accenture Song, Tebogo Skwambane, WPP country manager, Terry McKenna, executive creative director of The Odd Number and rounding it off Carl Willoughby, chief creative officer of TBWA / Hunt Lascaris.

11 Oct 2024 10:16

Birdwatching at The Loeries Episode 1: That 5 percent difference and more

Birdwatching at The Loeries Episode 1 focuses on that five percent difference, with special guests Wayne Naidoo, CEO of the Duke Group, Marc Algranti from Algranti Music and Nkanyezi Masango, chief creative officer from Dentsu Creative.

10 Oct 2024 10:04

Chris Botha on The MediaShop’s office move

22 Mar 2017 12:25

21 ICONS - Sandra Prinsloo

Sandra Prinsloo: “I think acting is telling people stories, telling important stories and hoping to change people through stories.”.

5 Jan 2015 10:23

21 ICONS - Taddy Blecher

Taddy Blecher: “When people are more educated and feel that they have more sense of self-worth and more value in terms of what’s inside them, they just naturally treat each other better. I think that kind of self-worth does lead to happiness, I don’t think it’s the only thing that creates happiness, but it definitely is a factor in societal happiness, on all metrics.”.

15 Dec 2014 09:29

21 ICONS - Miriam Tlali

Miriam Tlali: “A good book by itself, if it has the right messages in it, can change a person; his outlook, his persona, it can change a human being into something he never thought he could be. It can reinvent a person. That’s what a good book can do and it doesn't come through the efforts of other people, it comes from inside you.”.

8 Dec 2014 09:49

21 ICONS - Zanele Situ

Zanele Situ: “I feel happy and proud of myself that if I want something I push myself to do it, if I fall, I stand up again, this is how life is, there will be many times when you fall and you have to get up again.”.

1 Dec 2014 10:15

21 ICONS - Peter Magubane

Peter Magubane - “I used my camera as a gun. I did not want to carry a gun, and kill people. I used my camera as a weapon, and I think I was very successful.”.

24 Nov 2014 09:18

21 ICONS - Jill Farrant

Jill Farrant - “My life has been a series of near death experiences and resuscitations. I’ve had three almost fatal incidents and I've been able to, like my plants, resurrect, dry down, resurrect, and dry out again. I think the analogy goes one step further for me in that when you add a drop of water to those plants and they resurrect as for me, you have to add a drop of (holy) Spirit.”...

17 Nov 2014 10:54

21 ICONS - Anant Singh

Anant Singh - “My view on what makes a good movie and what makes a successful movie is something that is fresh. Something that is interesting, that you can give audiences an experience that hopefully they can come out of it having enjoyed something, whether it’s commercial or artistic, either of those parameters, to give them something that is new.”.

10 Nov 2014 11:06

21 ICONS - Zubeida Jaffer

Zubeida Jaffer - “I believe that I am part of a common humanity. One South Africa, one world, one universe. I’m a child of God. I've got many identities but I am not prepared to accept that I’m one thing only. We have to get people away from this idea that they’re pink and blue and white and grey. In the end, we are very close, all of us, to one another. We have the same feelings and if we get hurt, we feel the same.”...

3 Nov 2014 08:34

21ICONS - Lucas Radebe

Lucas Radebe: “During the Africa Cup of Nations in 1996 I was honoured to wear the green and gold jersey of our country and to see the national team and to represent our country as Captain, it was an unbelievable experience and a great achievement. I think for any soccer player you want to represent your country, you want to play against the best in the world and I was fortunate that I did.”...

27 Oct 2014 11:42

21ICONS - Pregs Govender

Pregs Govender: “I think that the ability of each of us is enriched by one another and the best collective comes when you have strength in each person that belongs to that group. It’s the idea of human dignity and the belief that humanity is inherent.”.

22 Oct 2014 11:43

21ICONS - Pieter-Dirk Uys

Pieter-Dirk Uys: “We are the luckiest people in the world in this country. We could have been every horror story in the world.”.

13 Oct 2014 12:53

Next