Heritage in fashion for young Greek SA designer
Bay fashion design student Ariana Patsalos has drawn on her family’s Greek Cypriot cultural heritage for her honours collection, fusing history with high fashion.
Patsalos said her Autumn Winter 2021 Honours Collection Motherland was inspired “by the people and places I feel most connected to”.
“My collection draws upon the folklore and cultural motifs of the Greek culture while also reflecting upon my diasporic experiences as a Greek CypriotSouth African,” the 22-year-old Nelson Mandela University student said.
Patsalos said she wanted to steer away from clichés and design a contemporary collection which honoured her Greek cultural heritage and identity.
To do this she drew on methods such as pleating, commonly used in Greece, and fabrics such as velvet and tapestry, as well as creating her own fabric from metres and metres of embroidered ribbons.
“The created garments take form as textured, material collages that reflect and juxtapose a variety of traditional techniques with new silhouettes and modern practices,” Patsalos said.
At the same time, they abstractly translate symbols and stories of Greek folklore. For example, she has sewn a lace doily onto a man ’ s quilted jacket, which also uses fabric taken from a family tablecloth.
“Additionally, the collection incorporates found fabrics and tapestries handcrafted by my mother and grandmothers, extending into the realm of the personal.”
Patsalos said the collection started as an exploration of folklore and culture in relation to Greek traditional dress, and developed from there.
It layered “cultural and personal embodied memory” using materials such as velvet tapestry, satin, linen and net.
“It was a combination of my personal experience and/or elements from my home as a
Greek South African. I wanted to put a twist on the outfits that we wear on traditional days, or when performing traditional dances.”
As president of the Eastern Cape Hellenic Youth Association, Patsalos enjoys sharing and celebrating her heritage.
“There are 10 different affiliates of this association in other centres such as Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Bloemfontein and the youth definitely connect with each other a lot,” she said.
“We feel so part of South Africa and we are South African but we have such strong roots in both cultures and nationalities.”
Along with their own indigenous languages and cultures, immigrant communities from nations such as China,
Portugal and Greece have added to the melting pot of SA over the decades.
In 2018 SA had a Greek community of about 138,000 people, compared with 200-300 at the end of the 19th century.
In the Eastern Cape, said Patsalos, the community was “very small, but very strong”, with activities often taking place at the Hellenic hall and church in Parsons Hill.
“I definitely want to explore this topic further, I have so much to learn so I would love to gain some work experience, and in turn also do other courses.”
Photographer Marc Hervé captured the spirit of Patsalos s collection, modelled by Tayla Matthews, Siphoesihle Blankèt, Sibusiso Stephen, Jade Paul and Stephen Slabbert.
At least 30 Helenvale families claim they have for years been forced to collect water from a leaking pipe in a nearby street after repairs to infrastructure in the area affected their water supply.
The residents said that about five years ago the municipality had installed new pipes, and since then more than 30 households had been left with dry taps.
The affected residents are forced to share two Jojo tanks, with some fetching water from a broken pipe not far from their streets.
Nelson Mandela Bay spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki confirmed the situation, saying there had been a damaged pipe and when it was repaired the work had damaged the water installation.
He said the upgrade had been stopped while the municipality was securing additional funding due to the nature of the work.
“Funding for the project has been secured and construction should start in April 2021,” Mniki said.
Gary van Niekerk, founder of the Stop Northern Areas
Killings (SNAK), who wrote to The Herald, said he had received a call from a resident at about 2am on February 20 complaining they were without water.
When he visited the house, he discovered more than 30 houses in three streets were without water, and he had decided to inform the media to highlight the issue.
Joyce Damons, 72, from
Voisen Street said she had to pay close to R500 a month for her municipal bill, and if she failed to do so they would cut her electricity.
“I don’t know how many times I have reported to the municipality and the community leaders, but no-one has come to our rescue and actually fixed the pipes,” she said.
“I demand the municipality to fix the pipes, and back pay all the money I paid with my pension fund for the services that I am not receiving,” she said.
Natasha Martin, 39, said whenever they complained to the officials they were referred to the Jojo tanks.
“I don’t know how many times I have complained and they just respond that we should use the Jojo bins. Those tanks were provided to be an alternative for the community,” she said.
Martin said there was a tap on her street from which they fetched water.
Its supply was often slow, and they had ask for water from other houses.
“During the time of Covid19 we had to share one tap, which was also running dry.
“We have to share Jojo tank water and when we complain nothing is done,” she said.
With all of that they still had to pay for services to the municipality.
“All we need is running water in our homes. We can’t live like this.
“There is surely a problem in the pipeline because this problem is not affecting all the houses in Helenvale.
“There should be a way of fixing it,” she said.