Home Culture Artist Samurai-Farai puts mental health in the spotlight

Artist Samurai-Farai puts mental health in the spotlight

It’s no surprise that over the last 18 months South Africans have experienced a massive decline in mental health. Samurai Farai’s collaboration with ASA aims to shine a light on mental health by asking them to face their façade.

October 16, 2021

Considering lockdown, the economic fallout, the levels of stress, anxiety, collective trauma and uncertainty about the Pandemic, and exacerbation of all existing issues, health and otherwise, the fallout has been significant. Depression has increased dramatically, and the latest studies show that over one-third of all South Africans have mental health issues. A staggering 75% of them won’t get support.

In recognition of World Mental Health Day on October 10^th, local rising star and artist Farai Englebrecht AKA Samurai-Farai, who has himself struggled with and overcome mental health conditions, wants to shine a spotlight on this important issue. Partnering with Reynold Agge, founder of ASA Magazine and clothing brand Loskop, the two have collaborated on launching limited edition printed hoodies showcasing an artwork by Samurai Farai, which will be for sale to the public via the ASA website. Proceeds will be donated to SADAG (South African Depression and Anxiety Group).

Ultimately, the collaboration aims to open the conversation around mental health issues and reduce the stigma. Farai hopes to leverage his art to encourage others to seek support and help for themselves should they need it.

Artist Samurai-Faria in his studio Farai’s captivating, bold art pays tribute to and draws inspiration from his humble yet colourful beginnings. From Rustenburg to Cape Town, Farai has used art as a path to healing saying that his artworks, “intends on reflecting all the emotional states that one being can possess.” This fits in perfectly with the ethos of the ASA brand, which is all about individual expression, authenticity, and uniqueness. Hoodies were chosen to showcase wearable art to represent comfort and reassurance.

His most recent body of work aims to narrate the personal and collective experience of isolation, despair, happiness, and hopefulness. Much of it is about confronting the façade that so many of us might put on to seem together or OK when we are not. His hope is to create mindfulness and awareness about mental health, suicide, anxiety, and depression.

Check out the video below of Farai creating the artworks in his studio.