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.”
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21 ICONS - Taddy Blecher
21 ICONS - Miriam Tlali
21 ICONS - Zanele Situ
21 ICONS - Peter Magubane
21 ICONS - Jill Farrant
21 ICONS - Anant Singh
21 ICONS - Zubeida Jaffer
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21ICONS - Pregs Govender
21ICONS - Pieter-Dirk Uys
21ICONS - Prof Tebello Nyokong
21ICONS - James Matthews
21ICONS - Kitty Phetla
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