Who doesn’t love a comic book story every now and then? Imagine a comic book with a superhero who is strictly African. Enters Azania!
The Butan Azania capsule range was created to visualise an African superhero inspired by true kings and heroes who came before us. Modelled on the great warrior King Shaka of the Zulu Kingdom, our hero is named Azania.
Azania is what many believe South Africa should rightfully be called as the current name is a colonial hang-up or geographic marker with no real identity.
For our Summer 2018 Azania collection, we transformed and depicted our superhero in splitting past and present comic book covers. These were turned to two iconic t-shirt prints that represent the merging of our past and present.
The Azania Collection tees were sold as a limited edition collector’s box set.
The story behind The Fearless Azania
In the distant future, the world is at war and the African Union (AU) needs to urgently find a competitive advantage over their adversaries in order to save millions of lives across the continent.
Using a portal discovered at the Cradle Of Humankind, the AU sends a team of scientists back in time to sample the DNA of the great warrior Azania. They essentially kidnap him and bring him back to the future where they use his DNA to create a formidable bionic clone army of Azanians.
One of the Azanian clones manages to escape and heads back in time to warn his past self of the kidnapping. The clone is pleasantly surprised at how much he is learning from his former self which he can take back to help modern Africans.
The meeting of the future Azanian clone with his past self symbolizes where we find ourselves as Africans today striving to strike a fine balance and graduate our traditions to modern Africa to live side-by-side with global advancements.
Wear the Azania t-shirts with pride and let the story inspire you to think about your unique place as an African in today’s world. What you bring, what you leave behind, what unique value you add and how can our rich history show us ways take our continent forward?
CREDITS
Photographer – Young Stilo @young_stilo
Model – Joseph Ntahilaja @josephntahi
Make Up – Zama Mko @zamamko
Production Assistant – Bongiwe Ngcobo @bongii
