How to get home

A visual hide & seek with the hand sign language used in Johannesburg, South Africa, to catch a mini-taxi in the right direction.

Created in collaboration with Siya Fonds.

@mrfonds  @block88conceptstore

Soweto, South Africa, 2017.

Documentation of the street art exhibition of "How to get home" in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 2019, funded by the Stiftung Kulturwerk Grant. 

Poster set in Johannesburg CBD, Queen Elizabeth Bridge on Nov 23rd, 2019.

In November 2019, “How to get home” returned to the streets of Johannesburg, where the handsigns are used every day.

Together with Siya and his crew, we pasted 1000 posters following the taxi routes from Soweto to Johannesburg, meeting people on the way.

On the final days of @howtogethome, we had a celebration: Siya opened the first gallery in the township, making it a home for art & culture accessible for everyone.

The project is accessible for everyone via Instagram @howtogethome

Thanks to Stiftung Kulturwerk for the funding!

Screenshot of feedback to the streetart project "How to get home" on Instagram

Schömberger Fotoherbst 2019

Exhibition of "How to get home" at Somerset House, London, for the Sony World Photo Award 2018, Category Creative.

Sony World Photo Award, Somerset House, London, 2018

Exhibition of "How to get home" at Somerset House, London, for the Sony World Photo Award 2018, Category Creative.
Exhibition of "How to get home" at Somerset House, London, for the Sony World Photo Award 2018, Category Creative.

Over twenty years after Apartheid ended in South Africa, its echo still can be heard throughout the country. The structures established decades ago continue to impact everyday life of people in the townships. Many black people still have to move up to 40 km every day into town to get to work, after their grandparents have been moved out of Johannesburg to the townships of Soweto with force to make the city a white area. While the state’s infrastructure like the metrorail break under the amount of people and crime, private minibus taxis have become one of the booming economy branches in the country.

This series of set up photographs explores the elaborate hand signs used in Johannesburg to stop a taxi going in the right direction, an hommage to what Jane Jacobs calls the “ballet of the sidewalk”.

By blending into everyday situations in Soweto, the handsigns do not only tell the story of how to get home in Johannesburg, but also show what this home looks like.

All directions are referring to travels to/from/in Soweto. The meaning of some signs varies depending on location and destination in Johannesburg.

In collaboration with Siya Fonds — check his work!

@block88conceptstore
@mrfonds
@sixteengallery