On 30 September 2009, Pan African Space Station presented ‘War Chorale’, composed and directed by Bheki Khoza in response to a short novella by Chilean author and activist, Fernando Alegria. War Chorale is a musical exploration into the slipperiness of history, love and memory, and the nearly invisible line that separates fiction from reality. Watch veteran guitarist, composer and mbaqanga jazz revivalist Bheki Khoza live at Chimurenga Factory. Bheki is a graduate of the legendary collective African Jazz Pioneers and has played with masters like Victor Ntoni, Winston Mankunku, Barney Rachaban ..read more

A mediation on skin, violence, and the limits of citizenship in a country where black lives have long been brutally (mis)handled by Paula Ihozo Akugizibiwe. Photo: Alfredo Jaar On a sunny Cape Town morning in early 2008, I am enjoying my daily 10-minute stroll to work. I cross the street outside my apartment building and enter the Company’s Gardens, a sprawling park with lush foliage and a fountain, artwork and al fresco dining. It is almost picture perfect, except for the faded, rusting, birdshit-splattered statues of Jan Smuts and other colonial masters of the past casting ugly shadow ..read more

Maakomele R. Manaka revisits a soundtrack of his dreams, long and rhythmic and hypnotic across time, space and struggles. The music and wisdom of Bra Herbie Tsoaeli lives large, therein, at “the foot of memory”. Illustration by Donovan Ward. Herbie Tsoaeli by Donovan Ward “Ba ya si biza, bathi e khaya, zi ya jabula ingana, zi ya jabula. Ma se goduke, si hambe e khaya…” It is almost impossible for me to hear Herbie Tsoaeli’s energetic yet nostalgic sound without thinking of the quiet, nonconforming voice of Johnny Dyani’s double bass. During my brief stay in Berlin, Dyani’s voice stained the ..read more

We are pleased to host veteran guitarist, composer and mbaqanga jazz revivalist Bheki Khoza at the Chimurenga Factory. Bheki is a graduate of the legendary collective African Jazz Pioneers and has played with masters like Victor Ntoni, Winston Mankunku, Barney Rachabane, and more. He also wrote the music for Zola Maseko’s award winning film Drum (2004). For this session, he is accompanied by Allistair Gibbs (bass) and Nicholas Dlakavu (drums). Friday, 26 April 2024, 7pm Chimurenga Factory – 157 Victoria Rd, Woodstock R150 pre-booked at https://qkt.io/P1Hnaw R200 at the door The post BHEKI KHO ..read more

Gwen Ansell maps the distance between words and music, fiction and autobiography, subversion and submersion through an epistolary review or two books that operate at the limits of  language and song.   “According to my records there was something/More…mind bringing African control on the corny times/of the tunes he would play. There was Space/And the Sun and the Stars he saw in his head/In the sky on the street and the ceilings/Of nightclubs and Lounges as we sought to/Actually lounge trapped in the dull asylum/Of our own enslavements. But Bird was a junkie.” – from “Historiography ..read more

He’s been described as the “founding father of African literature”, an author “who played key role in developing African literature”; a “towering man of letters” who “helped to revive African literature”…  but these accolades do little justice to Chinua Achebe’s literary legacy. One of the greatest writers/storytellers in the English language, Achebe was equally adept at portraying humour and horror – a writer whose wisdom and humanity left an indelible mark on all those who read him.  The international success of his first novel, Things Fall Apart is testimony to his remarkable lega ..read more

The Headline That Morning and Other poems is a poetry collection by Ugandan poet, Peter Kagayi. There are 50 poems in the book with wide ranging themes, from love and disillusionment to politics and to social commentary. Peter Kagayi, a Ugandan poet has served as the Anglophone Coordinator at Writivism, President of the Lantern Meet of Poets and founder of Rhymers Poetry Club. He is also the founder and curator of the regular poetry platform ‘The Poetry Shrine’ at the National Theatre in Kampala and has supported various groups of young poets. He ‘s ..read more

In honour of the late Kelan Phil Cohran we present, below, a tribute mix, compiled by Guilty, covering the sound journey of Kelan Phil Cohran – from his time with Sun Ra’s Solar-Myth Arkestra. Don’t miss “Heliacal Rising of Sothis” – a celebration of Kelan Phil Cohran at the Chimurenga Factory, with bassist and AACM member Adam Zanolini, cornetist Ben Lamar Gay, saxophonist Fred Jackson Jr, Sharon Udoh on keys and drummer Naydja Bruton AKA Rhythm Ninja.  Wednesday, 08 May 2024 from 8pm Chimurenga Factory (157 Victoria Road, Woodstock, Cape Town) R250 at quicket here. R300 at the ..read more

Chronic contributor and artist, Sammy Baloji had an exhibition in Berlin. His body of work, ‘Mémoire’ (from 2006) was on show at Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (Hiroshimastraße 17)  Over to our friends at AfricAvenir to say more: In his series of photographs entitled, ‘Mémoire’, Sammy Baloji links black and white photographs from Belgian colonial times with contemporary pictures of the mining town Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo. A colonial past with slavery and exploitative hierarchies meets fallow industrial ruins and tips. The large-sized photo-montages distinctly con ..read more

Emeka Ogboh‘s art works require audiences to hone their listening and hearing skills. Turning sounds into words, he documents his hometown in A Personal Reflection on Soundscapes. “I would be somewhere, and the everyday sounds suddenly seemed as interesting to me as the sounds of any music I could hear inside the concert hall. They just seemed so rich that I wanted to document moments of listening. I came to regard the act of listening as a way of making music. I regarded it as a creative activity – finding music in the environment around me.” Bill Fontana Sitting on the low w ..read more