Wati’s artistry life after big brother
Most young artists grow up with stigma around art and artistry as a career in the community, for it becomes daunting to pursue it full time because of pressure and unavailability of resources to perfect one’s art.
So, there is limited or no room for failure as regards how a great deal of the community views art: If one does not impress in the first few attempts, they are as good as done. Consequently, the next best thing should be job hunting.
It is because of such circumstances that there are a number of youths who become demotivated and unsatisfied with their career paths, with others being unemployed and uninspired to further pursue their dream. Instead, they dive into alcohol and drugs.
In a country where the economy is worsening by day and the job market shrinking, the only alternative for survival is entrepreneurship.
Such is the path that former Big Brother housemate Watipaso Kulemeka has taken.
After noticing a void in the fashion industry, he rushed to secure a spot to showcase at Retro Vintage Kkolektion (RVK) Africa Fashion Festival slated for the Bingu International Convention Centre (Bicc) in Lilongwe on November 25 and 26.
Popularly known as Wati, the former Big Brother housemate is the founder of a collection From Surf to Turf. He says he was inspired by Lake Malawi being the major influence on the country.
He says he is bringing to the event a set of 10 different fabric designs backed by 25 different garments which he did singlehandedly for both females and males.
“RVK Africa Fashion Festival is South African and it carters to all African countries and beyond. Therefore, it is a perfect platform for every designer. Once the world sees my work, it is going to bring a lot of business to me,” says Wati.
“I am going to showcase something that no African has ever done before; it is the first of its kind. Most Malawian up and coming designers like to play safe. They like to create something that has already been designed before for sole purpose of selling it quick. My advice is that they should think outside the box and be innovative.”
His admiration on the local scene is for Lilly Alfonso, who will also be participating at the event, and Harry Kazembe.
Quizzed if he thinks Malawians would take him seriously as a designer, he says: “The main problem about the Big Brother show is they did not give a pen and paper to show what you can do. It was about entertaining the audience. I now want to prove that I am not just an entertainment object, but also a professional designer.”
Wati says he started designing in 2005 when he was 16 years old.
“My dad [Paul] requested me to design a Roads Authority [RA] logo and that was also the first time I got paid for designing. So far, I have done components for vehicles, logos for roughly 30 companies, over 300 fabrics, inserts and small scale housing projects.
“After I did the RA logo, I enrolled at Lilongwe Technical College where I studied technical drawing and designing. I did it for two years until I was enrolled at a Malaysian college between 2007 and 2011,” says the former BBA housemate who is now a fulltime fashion designer.
He adds that his choice as Malawi’s representative in the Big Brother Africa show came immediately after his return from Malaysia.
“After the Big Brother show, I had to evaluate the aspect of design I wanted to venture in. That is from building designs to actual entertainment designs, meaning it could be furniture for an entertainment company, the fabrics themselves or clothing.
“My inspiration comes from my immediate surroundings; it could be an animal, floor or the arrangement of bricks,” says Wati.
His favourite architectural designer is Antonio Calatrava while Versace and Gucci are his favourite fashion designers.
“My very favourite is Versace because they come up with intricate designs which may take me about a month to design,” says Wati. n
