Tshabalala refashions theatre in his own image
Jefferson Tshabalala, the Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for theatre, creates innovative and experimental work that prioritises black experience and culture.
Culture
Text Messages | Convulsions and communism
Every few years, the economy reminds us that capitalism is not a foregone conclusion and that Manifesto of the Communist Party remains relevant 172 years after it was first published.
The artistry of Joseph Shabalala
Ladysmith Black Mambazo continues seamlessly thanks to the foresight of its founder, who leaves a legacy for his sons and continues to inspire others from his hometown.
Joseph Shabalala’s call to raise our spirits higher
Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s founding member, who died this week, took his music from hostel rooftops to music’s grandest theatres and, now, to the skies.
Political Songs | Ndodemnyama – Miriam Makeba
The night before being hanged, Vuyisile Mini’s booming voice sang the protest song he penned, defying the state and giving Mama Africa a jumping tune for a new generation.
Text Messages | Fair play to Ireland
Socialist James Connolly would surely be smiling at the victory of Irish leftists Sinn Féin, a step towards the country becoming what he visualised as ‘the supreme arbiter of its own destinies’.
In Pictures | Joseph Shabalala remembered
The founder of the Grammy Award-winning Ladysmith Black Mambazo has died at the age of 78, leaving a continued and rich legacy in isicathamiya choral singing.
Santu Mofokeng: master photographer who chased down shadows
From snapping life during apartheid to capturing aspects of climate change, this photographer’s haunting pictures illuminate our fear of the unknown.
Landmarks in SA jazz | Yakhal’inkomo and Jol’inkomo
How two jazz artists, Miriam Makeba with Jol’inkomo and Thembi Mtshali with Yakhal’inkomo, took on the African cattle complex.
Book Review | Yellow and Confused
Ming-Cheau Lin’s memoir offers a glimpse of the lived experience of a Taiwanese South African that is uncannily relatable, yet deeply personal.
The fantasy and freedom of Lebo Mathosa’s ‘Dream’
Lebo Mathosa’s debut offering bent genres and freed the imagination. Twenty years after its release, the album and its legacy deserve to be taken far more seriously.
Sabelo Mlangeni’s intimate portrayal of queer Nigeria
The photographer continues exploring queer lived experiences across Africa in The Royal House of Allure, tenderly documenting a safehouse for queer folk in Lagos.
Theatre Review | A Howl in Makhanda
A play by Qondiswa James asks if safety and surveillance in schools is really for all pupils, a question made more relevant by the deaths of Enoch Mpianzi and Keamohetswe Seboko.
King Tubby the dub master lives on
On the 31st anniversary of King Tubby’s death, Percy Zvomuya explores how the sonic experiments he pioneered in Jamaica in the 1970s still define modern dance music.
Text Messages | The exile of quarantine
As the coronavirus spreads, Albert Camus reminds us that the spectre of a city-wide shutdown and the horror of the ensuing isolation haunt all communities.
Parasite and class-war cinema
The huge success of Bong Joon Ho’s cinematic masterpiece reflects global anxieties about capitalism in an increasingly unequal world.
Luyanda Sidiya dreams of self-sufficiency for dance
The veteran dancer and choreographer has brought his new company, the Luthando Arts Academy, home to Sebokeng. Despite difficult beginnings, he hopes one day to offer degrees in dance.
Political songs | Mogaetsho – Bokani Dyer
Bokani Dyer is ‘looking to speak truth’ in his music and is willing to continue the tradition of challenging South Africa’s leaders when they stray or betray, as he does in Mogaetsho.
Album Review | Desire by Desire Marea
Desire’s self-titled debut album is the start of a long game for the artist, who is crafting an intimately intergalactic sound that stretches our musical palates.
Text Messages | In fear of death
The coronavirus lockdown in China brings to mind outbreaks of the near and distant past, documented in all their ‘plague-boil’ gore by writers such as Giovanni Boccaccio.
Musicians working together can change the world
American clarinettist and composer Angel Bat Dawid and South African drummer Asher Gamedze talk free jazz, collective collaboration and dismantling the system.