Athi-Patra Ruga

Athi-Patra Ruga is an artist as well as a clothing designer with his own label, Just Nje/Amper Couture. He graduated from the Gordon Flack Davison Design Academy in Johannesburg, where he lives and works. His work was selected for the Dakar Biennial in 2008. The founder of Johannesburg’s fashion and photography festival Confluence 4, Ruga also works in performance, video, and photography, exploring dress codes and the way fashion is utilized by people. His 2008 show “… of bugchasers and watussi faghags” at Art Extra in Johannesburg included tapestries, a video, and photographs focusing on the character of Beiruth, dressed in heels and spandex, who is pitted against historical South African imagery.