An extract of the novel and many beautiful pictures in The Daily Maverick, Monday 27 March 2023

‘In the Shadow of the Springs I Saw’ – Stories and photographs from a distinctive Art Deco building

Always fun to be in the Star, Saturday March 11 2023

the Star p6

Always fun to do a TV interview!

SABC 2 Morning Live with Lebo Serache

THE LAUNCH : IN THE SHADOW OF THE SPRINGS I SAW

WHAT FUN

There are many stories that make up our lives, and one of the various ways that these stories are recorded is in the spaces that we occupy: the houses, the corners, the streets and the trees; where we live, work, play, cry and laugh. These stories emerge from and develop out of what influences us, this being the society and culture that we live in, and so they are recorded in our spaces for space is both social and cultural. We are spatial story-tellers, explorers, navigators, and discoverers. The buildings in our space emerge from a cultural context; they reflect the social fashions of the time. They do not exist in isolation from us and our stories, and so they are one of the ways in which these stories are told for there is a consistent connection between people, their spaces that they occupy and the cultural worlds in which they live.

The Fiat Tagliero petrol station is an iconic Futurist, with some Art Deco features, building that was built in Asmara in 1938. It was built during the time when Eretria was a colony of Italy, the Fascist Italy led by Mussolini. Also then Italy was in the middle of a war with neighbouring Ethiopia. She wished that this land was her colony, but, despite her massive munitions and fighter jets which dropped mustard gas and other chemical bombs onto civilian communities, her soldiers were soon routed in guerrilla skirmishes with the Ethiopian forces. So for Italy the need to proclaim and to hold onto Eretria as a colony was vital for Mussolini’s and his peoples’ self-esteem and hubris; Italy desired to hold her head high among those in the European community. And so, to show this prowess and supremacy to the world, the Italians sought to make their mark in the one country that was their colony, Eretria. How did she do this? She did it by, among other things, building; by erecting, new, modern and, some would say inappropriate, others exciting and dare devil, buildings.  (continue reading…)