Text Messages | Covid-19, a moment of pause
As the coronavirus contains what it is to be human, perhaps like the characters in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot we should take this time to question our purpose.
Culture
Preserving Lovedale Press, a historical compass
The almost 200-year-old Eastern Cape publisher is facing closure, but a fundraising initiative that highlights its literary archive and importance as a cultural institution could save the press.
Mx Blouse is in their element
Drawing on hip-hop, electronica and dance in a small but impressive discography, the Joburg musician continues to make waves with their new release, Elementality.
Long Read | The twinkle in George Hallett’s eye
The fun-loving photographer with a ‘perspicacious sense of timing’ brought out the best in people. He focused on the beautiful and the intimate, and his life’s work is rich with these images.
‘Inganekwane’ and ‘Chosi’ in sacred conversation
Released just weeks apart in June, Zoë Modiga and Buhlebendalo Mda’s new albums speak to the political realities of our time and can be listened to in tandem.
Long Read | Salem: Of the land itself
Near Makhanda is a cricket pitch with claims to being the oldest in the country. Watered by blood and trauma, rolled with frontier nostalgia and contemporary paranoia, how does it play?
Linton Kwesi Johnson gave poetry back to the people
The 2020 winner of the PEN Pinter Prize, LKJ’s poetry puts the ignominy and hardship of the black experience in Britain front and centre in words that echo across the decades.
George Hallett’s camera was a political instrument
A photojournalist reflects on the life’s work of George Hallett, a narrative of thousands of lives, spanning decades, through one man’s lens and held in a single archive.
Album Review | Inganekwane by Zoë Modiga
With her second album, a marvel that has been three years in the making, the singer-songwriter takes her place in a storytelling tradition in which black women are the vanguard.
Film Review | Cook Off
Made on a tiny budget, Zimbabwe’s first feature film in a while – the feel-good Cook Off now on Netflix – was a dicey affair, with actors and crew not sure they would get paid.
Neo Muyanga navigates the ‘maze in grace’
Making Grace Amazing, on offer at the National Arts Festival, engages the memory inside liberation songs, revealing difficult conversations and imagining expansive possibilities.
The cultural impact of The Eusebius McKaiser Show
McKaiser’s show at Radio 702 became a home for many, a place to question and deeply engage with difficult aspects of South African society while shaping public culture.
Text Messages | An 18th-century lesson in power
Women and the working class would do well to draw on Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais’ work to subvert social hierarchies, as did Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte.
Afropolitan Comics tell of Africa, frame by frame
The comics genre in Africa takes centre stage at the Afropolitan Comics exhibition that is in the line-up of this year’s online-hosted National Arts Festival.
Book Review | An Eternal Audience of One
Set primarily in Windhoek, Rémy Ngamije’s debut novel is a story of family, friendship and migration. Across six countries, it questions the idea and experience of home.
‘Tom Tom’ takes its place in the operatic canon
Shirley Graham Du Bois’ ‘lost opera’ tells the diaspora story of African-Americans. Originally performed in 1932, it is being reproduced and restored to its rightful place in history.
Kirvan Fortuin’s final farewell
The slain dancer and choreographer was so much more than an internationally celebrated artist. They were also a proud queer rights activist and a beloved child and friend.
Text Messages | Whose history?
History is in a dynamic relationship with the present, never more so than now. By all accounts, King Richard III was a bloodthirsty fiend – until the truth was unearthed.
Vignettes on our godmother, Busi Mhlongo
In a series of sketches, musician and writer Nakhane reflects on the enduring effect of Busi Mhlongo as her breakout album Urban Zulu is reissued on vinyl.
The ‘seismic impact’ of Busi Mhlongo’s masterpiece
Matsuli Music has reissued Busi Mhlongo’s Urban Zulu masterpiece on vinyl for the first time, alongside Dudu Pukwana and the ‘Spears’ and Jump Uptight by the Zorro Five.
Vincent Mantsoe chronicles lockdown life in ‘Cut’
Unable to return to South Africa this winter, the dancer and choreographer created a dance piece for film, proving the power of creative expression and collaboration.