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Front Row with Mvelo of Ubusha Bethu Creatives
The story of 'Ubusha Bethu Creatives' begins from a singular creatives vision–a vision so powerful and all-encompassing which allows young creatives to "contribute meaningfully to contemporary social issues".
Mvelo Ukuthula Ngomane aka 'the general' Nkosazana is the founder and creative director of Ubusha Bethu Creatives–the New age Johannesburg-based agency creating a safe haven for youth collaborations. Forming an agency following a group shoot kinda sounds like the most idealistic romantic example of business ever. I guess that's what happen when there is commonality within the shared vision. During our virtul to-and-fro, Mvelo mentions:
"As an agency I didn’t want it to take the normal approach by building a brand identity and the whole shabang–I wanted it to first build a community and establish itself as a creative safe haven hence we always try to collaborate with as many creatives as possible."
I think the first piece of work which they produced which caught my attention was a very edgy collab with Public Domain. Second was The Motion, a massive collaboration as, "an ode to sisterhood in the creative industry creating chaos and motion to raise awareness of female contributions to creativity", as described by Mvelo. Now, forthcoming is their 'Fashion Is In My Jeans' which is a collaborative event between Ubusha Bethu Creatives and other agencies & fashion brand, Crochet Couture, Aesthetic Alley, and Kunene Khronicles.
So come along with us and enjoy the ensuing conversation between FRM and Mvelo–delving into how the Ubusha Bethu Creatives agency was created, the true meaning of community, The Motion (2024) and now Fashion Is In My Jeans (2025), and more!
Would you mind introducing yourselves and including a short description of what you do?
MN: My name is Mvelo Ukuthula Ngomane aka the general Nkosazana! I’m the Founder and Creative Director of Ubusha Bethu Creatives. Through Ubusha Bethu–I assist other creatives and collaborate with other creative entrepreneurs and agencies on their projects and creative journeys.
Could you tell me a bit more about Ubusha Bethu Creatives? From the ideation behind the name to what the brand identity of the agency represents to you.
MN: Ubusha Bethu Creatives is not only a creative agency but also a leading platform which aims to empower creatives to develop their talents and foster; a community where young creatives can express themselves freely and contribute meaningfully to contemporary social issues. Initially Ubusha Bethu was a group photoshoot campaign that led to the creation of an agency. As an agency I didn’t want it to take the normal approach by building a brand identity and the whole shabang–I wanted it to first build a community and establish itself as a creative safe haven hence we always try to collaborate with as many creatives as possible. To me, Ubusha Bethu has its own niche and a mission to provide young creatives with the tools, resources and platforms they need to develop their skills and showcase their work. I knew that when I was younger with absolutely no knowledge on how to express myself, having an agency like Ubusha Bethu would have helped guide me in a lot of ways–so I’d love for Ubusha Bethu to become that for someone one day.
I just love everything that you do! I really resonate with your mission to grow the African youth creative scene in Mzansi. How did you decide on creating this specifically?
MN: Well, this year Ubusha Bethu is going to be heavily focused on boosting female creativity and sisterhood within the creative industry through events and other things I can’t fully disclose yet lol. Social advocacy is also something very close to me–so Ubusha Bethu will also be leaning more towards using creativity to build communities and raise awareness to social contemporary issues. Creativity is vast so why not use it to help underprivileged people?
Can you tell me more about your 'The Motion 2024' event? It looked incredible in photos! How was the entire experience of planning and then executing this event?
MN: The Motion campaign was honestly a gift from God. We prayed the whole time and it took one afternoon of me and my partners deciding why not do something for the girlies to make something as beautiful as the motion to happen. The motion was and still is an ode to sisterhood in the creative industry. I do feel like being a female creative isn’t always so glamorous, especially when you’re still starting out. We wanted to create chaos and motion to raise awareness of female contributions to creativity–and that we’re here to stay and we’re still going to create more chaos and even more chaos!
The planning was honestly and weirdly so amazing. We enjoyed the whole process especially because myself and my partners are close friends so delegating, planning and everything in between was smooth sailing. It was a bit stressful and scary when we realised how many people we actually invited–but the results made it worth it. Of course, Aunty B being involved was the cherry on top. She was so kind, so helpful and so supportive from the minute we told her about the idea to the actual shoot day. We will always be grateful for her and every single person who came out and was involved. Especially our crew, the photographers, videographers, and our set manager.
I see you also have an upcoming event in March, 'Fashion Is In My Jeans'. Would you mind telling us more about it and what to possibly expect?
MN: Fashion Is In My Jeans is a collaborative event between myself and other agencies and fashion brand, Crochet Couture, Aesthetic Alley, and Kunene Khronicles. I can’t say much about it but trust me, YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS IT!
What else does Ubusha Bethu Creatives have in store in 2025?
MN: In 2025–more collaborations, more events, more community building, more love and more hope!
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