PUMA - Of The Same Earth | Video

It is quite heart wrenching really, that Africa has been torn apart by so many different things– civil disputes, history, famines… In a part of the world where 53 countries of people speak over 1000 different kinds of languages, exercise different cultural practices and have different values and opinions, it is almost unimaginable how solidarity can be found in Africa. As unfathomable and daunting as looking for a way to unify Africa is, PUMA has undertaken the task with determination, passion for sports and a love for people.
With a goal in mind, PUMA has recently created the one unity uniform for African national teams and invited New York based artist, Kehinde Wiley, to paint a portrait of African togetherness featuring Samuel Eto’o, Emmanuel Eboue and John Mensah. As a introduction to the portrait and PUMA’s one unity project, PUMA has created a video, Of The Same Earth, telling the story of Africa, football and unity through painting.
In the video, Kehinde Wiley delves into his fascination with football, a sport which “brings together over one billion people speaking over 1000 languages across 53 countries in Africa”. According to Wiley, there is a “beauty in taking one ball to bring together an entire community”, and his painting sets out to further and realize that beauty onto canvas. For the painting, Wiley works in his signature style of heroic portrait while working in local elements such as fabrics, patterns and sculptures.
Check out the beautiful video, Of The Same Earth, and get the football fever going through a different lens. Also, a portion of profits from the sale of PUMA’s Africa Unity Kit and replica fanwear will be allocated to programs that support biodiversity in Africa, in partnership with UNEP’s Year of Biodiversity 2010.

post via FRESHNESS MAG