Pass Radio
LIBERATION RADIO: CAPE TOWN – 15th-18th March 2022, 3-6pm
Liberation Radio is part of Chimurenga’s ongoing query on knowledge production via African sound worlds. Through this program we explore the possibilities of radio as a research platform and the sonic archives of cultural struggles, and the role of city-studios such as Cairo, Accra, Conakry, Algiers, Dar es Salaam, Lusaka and more, as revolutionary capitals which hosted and disseminated liberatory work through their national infrastructure.
This edition, live from our Cape Town studio on the 15th -18th of March from 3pm, will examine the role of South African liberation movements as cultural producers, particularly in the realm of sound and music, both at home and in exile, through initiatives such as ANC’s Amandla Cultural Ensemble (based in Angola) and Medu (Botswana); PAC’s Mafube (Tanzania) and Azanian Singers (UK); BCM’s Dashiki and Malopoets, as well as collaborative projects such as Caiphus Semenya’s Buwa.
The program features sessions with contemporary musicians on struggle songs/chants; an exploration of visual production as it relates to liberation music – for instance the record-sleeve design of artists such as Bidi, Ntukwana, Feni, Tladi and others. As well as a segment examining the methods and challenges of recovering, curating, re-presenting and conserving black collective and fugitive practice.
Participants include: musicians/composers Neo Muyanga, Asher Gamedze, Masello Motana, Steve Dyer and Nhlanhla Ngqaqu (iPhupho L’ka Biko); writers/historians Percy Mabandu, Athi Mongezeli Joja, Gwen Ansell and Ali Hlongwane; artists/workers Rob Machiri and Memory Biwa (Pungwe), Bongiwe Dhlomo- Mautloa and Judy Seidman; archivists/scholars Uhuru Phalafala and Sinazo Mtshemla; producers/organisers Lerato Kuzwayo and Kgomotso Ramushu; and many more.
TUESDAY, 15 MARCH 2022
SOUTH AFRICAN LIBERATION SONGS
A conversation between contemporary musicians who actively draw on the archive to directly inform their music and artist practice. With: Neo Muyanga, Asher Gamedze, Masello Montana and Nhlanhla Ngqaqu (iPhupho L’ka Biko)
And a soundpieces by all participants
WEDNESDAY, 16 MARCH 2022
LIBERATION MOVEMENT AS CULTURAL PRODUCERS
Legacies of PAC’s Mafube Arts Commune and band; ANC’s Amandla Cultural Ensemble and Medu Art Ensemble. As well as outfits such as Malopoets and Dashiki, which were associated with BCM. With historians of these projects such as Gwen Ansell, Percy Mabandu, Ali Hlongwane and Steve Dyer.
And soundpiece by Pungwe (Rob Machiri and Memory Biwa)
THURSDAY, 17 MARCH 2022
VISUAL ARTS AND LIBERATION MUSIC
From visual representations of the music (LP-art, posters, photographs) to cross-disciplinary (or an-disciplined) work by artists operating across media. With Percy Mabandu, Bongiwe Dhlomo-Mautloa, Judy Seidman and Athi Mongezeleli Joja.
And soundpiece by Yasmina Reggad
FRIDAY, 18 MARCH 2022
FUGITIVE ARCHIVES
Methods of recovering, curating, re-presenting and conserving black collective and fugitive practice. With Uhuru Phalafala, Sinazo Mtshemla, Lerato Kuzwayo and Kgomotso Ramushu.
LIBERATION MUSIC – A DJ SELECTION
This edition is produced in collaboration with Akademie der Künste der Welt
The Africans, A Radio Play in Three Acts – 09-11 February 2022
We were proud to present the worldwide premiere of The Africans, A Radio Play in Three Acts by Christian Nyampeta – live on PASS from 09-11 February 2022. The Africans, A Radio Play in Three Acts, is an adaptation of The Trial of Christopher Okigbo (1971), a novel by the late Kenyan philosopher and writer Ali A. Mazrui (1933-2014). With it, Christian Nyampeta develops what he calls a “multiform audio-social structure”, portraying a battle between individualism, universalism and social collectivism in After Africa. For further reading on …
THE AFRICANS – ACT 3 [VERDICT] – 11 FEBRUARY, 6PM
We present ACT 3 [Verdict] of The Africans, A Radio Play in Three Acts by Christian Nyampeta – live on PASS 11 February 2022, 6pm. The Africans, A Radio Play in Three Acts, is an adaptation of The Trial of Christopher Okigbo (1971), a novel by the late Kenyan philosopher and writer Ali A. Mazrui (1933-2014). With it, Christian Nyampeta develops what he calls a “multiform audio-social structure”, portraying a battle between individualism, universalism and social collectivism in After Africa. [Artwork: The Agora by Obi Okigbo (as part of …
THE AFRICANS – ACT 2 [TRIAL] – 10 FEBRUARY, 6PM
We present ACT 2 [Trial] of The Africans, A Radio Play in Three Acts by Christian Nyampeta – live on PASS 10 February 2022, 6pm. The Africans, A Radio Play in Three Acts, is an adaptation of The Trial of Christopher Okigbo (1971), a novel by the late Kenyan philosopher and writer Ali A. Mazrui (1933-2014). With it, Christian Nyampeta develops what he calls a “multiform audio-social structure”, portraying a battle between individualism, universalism and social collectivism in After Africa. [Artwork: The Clearing by Obi Okigbo (as part …
THE AFRICANS – ACT 1 [ARRIVAL] – 09 FEBRUARY, 6PM
We present ACT 1 [Arrival] of The Africans, A Radio Play in Three Acts by Christian Nyampeta – live on PASS 09 February 2022, 6pm. The Africans, A Radio Play in Three Acts, is an adaptation of The Trial of Christopher Okigbo (1971), a novel by the late Kenyan philosopher and writer Ali A. Mazrui (1933-2014). With it, Christian Nyampeta develops what he calls a “multiform audio-social structure”, portraying a battle between individualism, universalism and social collectivism in After Africa. [Artwork: The Shrine by …
HOME IS WHERE THE MUSIC IS
“Home is where the music is” is drawn from Keorapetse Kgositsile’s poem “For Hughie Masekela”, dedicated to the South African trumpeter, composer and bandleader. The poem ends with the lines, “This then is the rhythm / and the blues of it / Home is where the music is”. The poem was published in the 1974 collection, The Present Is A Dangerous Place To Live, however it was presented to Masekela earlier. Bra Hugh then recorded a double album titled Home …
Chimurenga presents Of Wounds, of Hands – a word/sound documentary – 08 July 2021
Chimurenga presented Of Wounds, of Hands – a word/sound documentary by the Insurrections Ensemble – live on PASS, 08 July 2021, 6pm. During the Spring of 1941, Suzanne Roussi, Aimé Césaire and Rene Menil hosted a walk in the Absalon forest in Martinique, with many of the “degenerate” artists from Europe who’d made it out on the last ship from Marseilles escaping Nazi power. There were Wilfredo Lam, Andre Breton, Andre Masson, Anna Seghers, who shared a passage with Victor …
RADIO MAC – 21 June 2021 – 6pm: War of the Reptile Men – Victor Gama
War of the reptile men War of the reptile men é uma composição criada pelo compositor e músico angolano Victor Gama enquanto vivia em Angola durante os anos do conflito. Ele explica como a sintonização na rádio estática, durante o girar do botão, expandiu a sua compreensão das possibilidades da música e do som como um intermediário. Gama relembra memórias vívidas do período da independência no final dos anos 70, a transição no sistema educacional do país naquela época, e …
RADIO MAC – 20 June 2021 – 6pm: Sermos autores de nós próprios / Being our own authors – Carla Fernandes
Sermos autores de nós próprios Fundadora da Afrolis – Associação Cultural, organização que se dedica à promoção da expressão cultural e à construção de novas narrativas identitárias dos afrodescendentes. Carla Fernandes é jornalista, tradutora e produtora cultural. Em conjunto com Sónia Vaz Borges, ambas envolvem-se num diálogo que viaja entre o pessoal e profissional sobre as memórias, ambições e a criação de espaços africanos na capital portuguesa. Being our own authors Founder of Afrolis – Cultural Association, an organization dedicated …
RADIO MAC – 19 June 2021 – 6pm: Xee menino não falar politica / Xee boy, do not talk about politics – DJ Lucky
Xee menino não falar política Lucky é um Dj angolano que vive em Lisboa. Ele nasceu em Kinshasa, como resultado do êxodo da guerra de Angola para o Congo, regressou após a independência com sua família para Luanda. Ele destaca a importância das rádios e explica como os angolanos no Congo podem estar ligados às notícias pela rádio. Assim, por meio do rádio, a sua família partilhou notícias sobre a independência e lançou o primeiro sinal de que era seguro …