Pass Blog
A GATHERING – for Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
We’re honoured to broadcast a two-part memorial reading (Monday 30 June & Wednesday 2 July from 6pm) for the writer, educator and revolutionary Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (1938-2025) – organised by our longtime comrades Serubiri Moses and Bwesigye Bwa-Mwesigire and structured around the chronology of Ngũgĩ ‘s publications.
A major thread concerns the arrival of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o as a rebel theorist following his detainment, as well as his long preoccupation with the legacy of the Kenya Land and Freedom Army, as well as the author’s major criticism of Kenya’s former presidents Moi and Kenyatta. His engagement with languages was lifelong. Yet his work on translation and oral tradition intensified in his later years combined with his interests in memoir.
This is a celebration of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s life with readings of his words in theory, drama, fiction, nonfiction, and personal reflections to the work. Sound design by Joseph Mutono.
Monday 30 June – The Novelist & Playwright
Sitawa Namwalie, Glaydah Namukasa, Achiro Patricia Olwoch, Bwesigye Bwa Mwesigire, Serubiri Moses, Margaret Nagawa, Ladan Osman, Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed, Sreddy Yen, Akpa Arinzechukwu, Omar Berrada, Jonathan Kubakundimana, Kyomuhendo A. Ateenyi, Bamba Ndiaye
Wednesday 2 July – Autobiography & Oral Tradition
Frances Ogamba, Anooradha Iyer Siddiqi, Bwesigye Bwa Mwesigire, Richard Oduor, Helen Mugambi, Vukoni Lupa Lusaga, Delight Ejiaka
Category: News, Pass Blog
Tags: Bwesigye Bwa-Mwesigire, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Serubiri Moses
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NGUGI WA THIONG’O – THE WRITER IN POST-COLONIAL AFRICA with an introduction by Ari Sitas
Following the popular success of “Matigari ma Njiruungi” the Kikuyu version of Ngugi wa Thiongo’s 6th novel in 1986, word got to then-President Daniel Arap Moi that a revolutionary called Matigari was going around the country asking awkward questions about truth and justice in postcolonial Kenya. Moi promptly demanded this person be arrested. After the infamous Security Branch reported that Matigari was a character in a novel, Moi demanded they arrest the book! At the time Ngugi was in exile …
FATIMA AND THE DUST – a listening session with Leila Bencharnia
Moroccan artist and composer Leila Bencharnia presents ‘Fatima and the Dust’, a new sound piece, and music selections at the Chimurenga Factory on Friday 6 June, from 6.30pm. ‘Fatima and the Dust’ delves into the spiritual world of Gnawa, rooted in Sufism and other African spiritualities, where music and rituals are pathways between the earthly and the divine. The piece is a tribute to the silent yet essential role of women—guardians of ancestral heritage, keepers of rituals, and weavers of …
FOREST NOTEBOOKS LAUNCH OF THE ECHO-LOGIES SERIES
We are proud to present Forest Notebooks by Mario Lewis, the first publication in the ‘Black Echologies’ series, an ongoing collaborative project between Chimurenga and Nyabinghi Lab, a Berlin based independent arts collective. The ‘Black Echologies’ series challenges mainstream ecological discourse—its coloniality and exclusion of indigenous knowledge. Forest Notebooks brings together a (mostly) unfiltered interpretation of Lewis’ year-long journey working in the forests of Trinidad through striking illustrations and elementary notes. Join us to celebrate the launch of the Black …
Category: Live Events, News
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SONGS FOR WINNIE – LAUNCH OF THE LATEST CHRONIC WITH A SEMBLANCE
Chimurenga presents the launch of the latest edition The Chronic – Brandfort: Liberation Capital with a special performance by A Semblance
Category: Live Events, News, Pass Blog
Tags: Asher Gamedze, winnie madikizela-mandela
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MBIZO! – a gathering for Johnny Dyani [8 March 2025 LIVE @ Constellation, Chicago]
On 8 March 2025, Chimurenga presented ‘MBIZO! a gathering for Johnny Dyani’, a LIVE concert performance at CONSTELLATION (3111 N Western Ave, Chicago) from 8:30pm (CST) / 4:30 (SAST). Conducted by Ben LaMar Gay and Adam Zanolini Featuring Dee Alexander (voice); Nicole Mitchell (flute, electronics); Adam Zanolini (woodwinds, bass); Fred Jackson and Ernest Dawkins (woodwinds); Ben LaMar Gay (cornet, electronics); Matthew Davis (trombone); Sharon Udoh (piano); Ivan Taylor (bass); Jovia Armstrong (percussion); Naydja Bruton (drums) By the time 39-year-old Johnny …
CHIMURENGA X SEPTOBER presents – BACKBREAKNOMICS! FRIDAY 21 Feb at Chimurenga Factory
Chimurenga and Septober Energy presents: “BACKBREAKANOMICS!” FRIDAY 21 Feb at CHIMURENGA FACTORY (157 Victoria Rd, Woodstock Cape Town) 18:00 til late The Joburg-based DJ/collector ensemble SEPTOBER ENERGY joins forces with kindred spirits CHIMURENGA in the name of all things groove! This collaboration brings together a massive B2B lineup of your favourite selektors from JHB & CPT in sonic conversation. All vinyl, no rules, no genre. Featuring: Dj Bubbles Riki Jenks Hypocrite Sound of Xee El Corazon Soul Br_th_r Gadaffi the …
KEENAN AHRENDS TRIO – LIVE at Chimurenga Factory
After a successful tour in New York, guitarist Keenan Ahrends is set to tour South Africa in February. With his trio – Benjamin Jephta (bass) and Jonno Sweetman (drums) – he returns home for his second stop at Chimurenga Factory, Cape Town. The performance features compositions from his debut album Narrative and his sophomore album Perseverance: live at the bird’s eye. Ahrends is known for his evocative musical writing, his emotive improvisation and his sensitive musicianship. He is an important …
THIS WAY I SALUTE YOU – a gathering for Keorapetse Kgositsile
“When the clouds clear / We shall know the colour of the sky.” On Thursday 30 January 2025, we are proudly hosted the launch of two long-awaited books on our dearly departed teacher Keorapetse Kgositsile: Collected Works, 1969–2018, from the Broadside and Third World Press days to Beyond Words, a near 50-year journey of word-sound-power, edited by Phillippa Yaa de Villiers and Uhuru Portia Phalafala; and Uhuru’s own pathbreaking study, Keorapetse Kgositsile & the Black Arts Movement. (illustration by Medu for …
WATER NO GET ENEMY – a day-long broadcast on PASS
In honour of the almighty water we presented a day-long broadcast on flows and unflows, tidalectics and water babies, cities and cemeteries, mosi-oa-tunya and motla le pula, drexciya, hendrixian merman and mami wata, ngondo and orin o’lomi, puddles, poem-maps and the rivers in our bellies, nkrumah’s and nehru’s big man dams, saline consciousness and the incessant fear of a wet planet. Contributors: Lamin Fofana, Christina Peake, Listening at Pungwe, Manthia Diawara, Ola Balogun, Otolith Group, Dikongue Pipa, Simnikiwe Buhlungu, Sorana …
Category: Live Events, News, Pass Blog
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