MEET SERATI

Serati Maseko is a multifaceted and autodidactic South African storyteller and ‘’artivist’’ using the mediums of music, literature, and visual and performance art, to communicate ideas, to explore the human condition, to express emotion, and to hold a mirror to humanity.

Born in Alexandra Township in Johannesburg, her upbringing was divided between different parts of Johannesburg, as well as Boston Massachusetts in USA, and London in England, this gave her a diverse, multi-cultural and transcontinental upbringing which informs her art as well as her politics.

Her writing has been published in notable South African publications, Daily Maverick, Mail and Guardian, as well as other blogs and websites; and she has given a talk at TedxPretoria. 

She has lived and worked in Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, collaborating with artists from around the world. Her music is an ever-evolving brew of all her influences ranging from storytelling acoustic guitar based indie-folk, to the diverse musical styles of the African continent. With strong lyrical content, her music invites the audience to listen deeply to the themes that she writes about which centre on the human condition.

Her work is the truest expression of her inner world, but also the world in which she lives, the world that has formed her. Her motivation is always simply to be as honest as she can be while telling the stories that matter to her. 

PAST PROJECTS, FEATURES

& EVENTS

    • Collaborated with Jens Sage on ‘‘African Face, Colonial Tongue’’ film & podcast project

    • Took time off her work to heal subconscious blocks that we inhibiting her growth

    • Op-ed titled ‘‘Alexandra township in the grip of toxic fumes from scrap metal collectors’’ published in Mail & Guardian

    • Did a number of live music performances in Cape Town

    • Spent a month in Zanzibar as a resident performer at Dongwe Hotel

    • Did a music tour of Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam

    • Was hosted by Kuza Cave Zanzibar to conduct a workshop for local artists on storytelling through music performance

    • Featured on Cape Town TV

    • Basadi Ba Mintsu - Maputo, Mozambique

    • Host of Sisisote - Kwetu, Maputo, Mozambique

    • TedxPretoria talk titled ‘’An urban girl’s eco-feminist theory: equitable access to nature.”

    • Released a single titled Don’t Let the Sun with South African jazz band, 251Afrika

    • As part of Basadi ba Mintsu, ran a public awareness campaign called Levantar Vozes por Cabo Delgado - Raising Voices for Cabo Delgado in collaboration with international lawyer Tshiamo Maseko Poisson. The collective did a series of performances in the city of Maputo, and collaborated with local and international NGOs to raise awareness about the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, north of Mozambique. To this end, Serati was interviewed on Radio France International as well as by German NGO, Koordinerungs Kries Mozambique.

    • Participated in an artistic residency directed by prominent Mozambican singer and cultural activist, Lenna Bahule. The product of that residency was a performance titled ‘’Makwayela Para Todes’’ which was an interpretation of a southern African choral music style called Makwayela. The all-woman collective’s interpretation of the style was characterised by several voices united by the common intention of speaking out about our place as inhabitants of the planet, our bodies as women, and our right to free transit, geographically as well as in gender identity.

    • Partnered with Brand South Africa on a video in celebration of Heritage Month celebrating natural afro textured hair

    • Participated in a 3 week artistic residency at Pride Rock Art Centre in Lake Chivero, Zimbabwe. The residency was centred around the study of indigenous instruments marimba and mbira.

    • Became a founding member of the transnational, all-woman, political art, music collective called Basadi ba Mintsu, which is seTswana and Shangaan for ‘’roots women’’. The 4 women that make up Basadi ba Mintsu are from Cuba, Brazil, South Africa, and Mozambique respectively.

    • Participated in a stage production by Mozambican cultural group TP50 titled ‘’Os Tocadores de Agora’’ at the popular French Cultural Centre of Maputo.

    • Released her debut EP titled “Rapture”

    • Released her second EP, this time a remix EP titled Why Do You Tempt Me Remixes, featuring DJ’s and producers from Italy, Spain, USA and Nigeria

    • Participated in Afropunk’s Battle of the Bands alongside 7 other bands

    • Became Stimorol’s first female ambassador alongside Thabo Bluebird and Jesse Suntele. As a Stimorol Brand Ambassador Serati got to do a number of public engagements and activities with South African celebrities and influencers.

    • Semi-finals of the Castle Milkstout Unplugged Talent Search from which she recorded and launched her debut single, Hurt So Good, on Metro FM

  • Started the blog ‘’Afro Hair in Fashion’’ as a place to talk about being a black model with natural afro textured hair, and her and other models’ experience. It however evolved to talk about issues such as feminism and the politics surrounding black bodies. As a natural hair blogger, Serati contributed to other blogs, spoke at natural hair events, and was featured in Drum Magazine.

  • Signed to prominent modelling agency Boss Models Johannesburg