Amsterdam Dance Event gets a distinctly South African chapter this year. On Friday 23 October, cultural platform House of South Ah (HOSA) takes over Cut Throat Amsterdam on Beursplein for its first-ever showcase, a daytime gathering where music, fashion, film, photography and visual art share one room.
The daytime showcase at Cut Throat Amsterdam puts the culture behind Afro House and Amapiano in the spotlight.
The soundtrack is Afro House, Amapiano and Afrotech, played by a line-up of South African selectors: Kususa, NAAK, Zulu Mageba, Shamiso, TenOceans, Nomtah, TooLow, Milu and G-Wash10. But HOSA is explicit that the music is only part of the story.
“House of South Ah was created to make South African culture discoverable in Europe beyond the dancefloor,” says founder and curator Lerato Tsotetsi. “During ADE, Amsterdam becomes a meeting point for South African sound, style and storytelling. We want people to arrive for brunch, discover independent designers, experience the music in community, and leave with a deeper connection to the culture behind it.”
That ambition takes shape in a fashion-art installation set up as a living lookbook and pop-up showroom. Visitors can discover, try on and buy pieces from South African labels Galxboy, Favelo Worldwide and The Herd Studios. Alongside the fashion, there is film, photography and visual art by Siyababa Atelier, Nikiwe Dlova, Ray Manzana and Katleho Mavundla.
The showcase is woven into Cut Throat’s Bottomless Brunch & Beats format, so the experience unfolds the way the culture does at home: in daylight, in community, with good food on the table. In doing so, HOSA aims to give South African creative talent greater visibility in Europe, and to introduce Amsterdam audiences to the communities behind a sound that has conquered dancefloors worldwide.
