GRIOTS REPUBLIC - AN URBAN BLACK TRAVEL MAG - OCTOBER 2016

BUTSU
The Transformative Power of Design & Travel
BY EBONY CHAPPEL
There’s something about travel that changes
your perspective. Being in an alien atmosphere
with foreign tongues and customs
forces you to rely on an often underutilized
part of yourself - that part that is more instinctual,
open and exploratory. That is if
you’re doing it right. Author Miriam Beard
once said, “Travel is more than the seeing
of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep
and permanent, in the ideas of living.”
For Zimbabwean native Patrick Simbarashe
Chakauya, creator of Butsu Footwear, his
diverse upbringing in concert with his vast
travels have transformed his identity, spirituality
and art. “Our sneakers have
afrocentric influences,
we are basically telling the African success
story no one else has told,” he said.
Butsu started as Chakauya sat at home in
Zimbabwe broke and looking for a way to
fund his summertime wanderlust.
“I needed to raise money for experiential
travel. I believe that as an artist, you need
to get out and explore the world in order
to get the stimulus you need to make you
a full artist. I always think every single art
form is beautiful on its own but once you
combine it with the experiences you have,
it makes it even deeper.”
After coming up with a game plan, he
reached out to friends in Italy who had
connections to manufacturers. He was
accepted into a design program for
budding designers and things
rapidly took off from