studio@halaqah.com Owner

Do you know what I know?

Do you hear what I hear?

Do you see what I see?

If I played Debussy would you hear what I hear? of course not. Can we test this? No. Because I know red and I cannot share what the color red means to me. I assume we share the same view of red because when I saw point to the red ball we all point to the red ball. But that doesn't mean we are seeing or experiencing the same red experiences. My worldview is unique. When I hear Prince in Purple Rain as an ex-guitarist I actually know what he is playing and am way more appreciative of it than another person who doesn't understand/appreciate the guitar. I listened to Claire De Lune (Debussy) and explained why it is such a masterpiece. I am 100% sure not everyone is hearing what I am hearing and clearly unable to extract what I am extracting from the music. 

8bits has less data than 10bits. HD is less than 4K. More data = a higher resolution of appreciation. 

When my son

Premium Fabric does not mean expensive fabric, and expensive fabric does not mean premium fabric. Confusing? The price you pay for something is not always a measure of its objective quality or subjective quality. Our Ramie linen costs almost the same as our premium heavy-weight linen. Sometimes we get a deal and it is cheaper (price-wise) than the ramie lightweight linen. The price of our Indian fabric was very low (because we got a deal on all of it) when it got burnt during the looting it became exclusive and its value went through the roof. Bazin is ridiculously expensive but it is not higher quality compared to snow linen (which is used for work wear). Fabric from Dubai is very unique, cheap in Dubai but after customs not so cheap when landed in South Africa. So the price of a fabric does not usually indicate its value or quality.

When a big company like Woolworths ends a season they might have 100m of left over fabric that was used on one design. The supplier is not going to

At Ocacia we do not use a lot of cotton, except in denim. But decided to write this quick article because the history of cotton is so integral to the history of Africa especially the West dependence on it and the consequences to African people (being enslaved) due to their need for labor.  Native Americans were observed growing cotton by the Coronado expedition in the early 1540s. I am not sure but no one from West Africa had cotton knowledge. They did come with skills in agriculture But I am not sure cotton specialization was one of those skills. The earliest reference to a cotton spinning wheel comes from the Muslim world in the 11th century, it then is said to have gone from Iran to India. 

From an economic standpoint cotton made by slave labor accounted for 40% of all British exports (which went back to Africa to procure more captives). 80% of Birtisns essential raw material. Prior to cotton, which came late to Europe via Arab traders, wool was the fabric of choice.

The vulgarly contradictory nature of South Africa where their public speak of Pan-Africanism and rainbows does not match their internal policies and attitudes stymies their development. No postal system, xenophobic anti-African immigration, poor human resource management, and poor education halt any hopes of true development. Development is just political rhetoric for token gestures as a patina on failure. 

Political correctness makes a lot of statements to make the average joe feel like they have some share in power. But Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? Absolutely not

Traditional art forms are being destroyed today at an alarming rate, and we say this against the historical backdrop of culture is always changing, and like the Earth, things are created and things are destroyed. That is the natural process of things. The CD destroyed the record and the Mp3 destroyed the CD. In every instance, we lost something but also arguably gained something (but is that the case today, are we gaining something?)

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media has altered our world. And sometimes that has not always been for the best. In 2005 when we made 500 Years Later things were actually better for us without social media. Now, everyone with 2 cents is in the same space as people with 2 million. So the entry-level for us in film was to own some serious equipment and produce serious quality content. That high bar in itself separated out who is who. If you did not have this equipment the notion of making content did not exist even as a dream. Now today people can

What we see a lot of in Africa is ego dominating ability. Someone is quick to apply grand titles to their name like Dr, scholar, filmmaker, web developer, director of photography yet not have those skills in a professional capacity. But how do those skills match up in the global world is another issue. 

Afro- Jeans: For the first time in Africa -- African "traditional" jeans blend perfectly with your Ocacia tops. Premium made by hand. African accents, Deep pockets, customizable. Nothing says individuality like rocking some Ocacia African denim. Traditional African jeans reflect African culture in modernity. All jeans are a relaxed straight cut. We do more than make jeans, we make wearable art.

Nothing says class like wearing bespoke attire. We can tailor your clothes to fit you 100%, that is one of the main things we do. Not everyone needs/wants a tailored fit especially when most Ocacia clothes fit just fine.