Pass Radio

LIBERATION RADIO: CAPE TOWN – 16 March 2022 – 3pm: Liberation Movement as Cultural Producers

Today’s session explores the 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.


Percy Mabandu is an artist and writer interested in poetics and portraiture, monuments, and symbolic meaning. He is the author of the book, Yakhal’inkomo – Portrait of a Jazz Classic, a monograph that studies the history and impact of the landmark South African jazz album.

Gwen Ansell is a freelance writer, writing teacher, media consultant and creative industries researcher. She is the author of ‘Soweto Blues: Jazz, Politics and Popular Music in South Africa’.

Ali Hlongwane is a cultural worker and activist who has authored two biographies of PAC figures, namely The Lion of Azania: a biography and We Are Going Home Armed or Unarmed: A Biography of John Nyati Pokela (1921 – 1985).

Steve Dyer is an internationally renowned saxophonist and flautist. As cultural activist he was a member of Medu Art Ensemble, Shakawe and briefly toured with Amandla Cultural Ensemble.

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LIBERATION RADIO: CAPE TOWN – 15 March 2022 – 3pm: South African Liberation Songs

In our opening session we present a conversation between contemporary musicians who actively draw on the archive to directly inform their music and artist practice, along with audio pieces from each participant. With: Neo Muyanga, Asher Gamedze, Masello Montana and Nhlanhla Ngqaqu (iPhupho L’ka Biko). Neo Muyanga is a composer, theorist and activist who is engaged in a multi-focal exploration of protest music that spans from how protest songs played a key role in South Africa’s liberation to the role …  ( continue reading

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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 …  ( continue reading

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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 …  ( continue reading

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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 …  ( continue reading

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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 …  ( continue reading

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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 …  ( continue reading

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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 …  ( continue reading

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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 …  ( continue reading

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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 …  ( continue reading

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