We had to navigate our way around, we had to prove ourself. There is less of that now, you can be here in Zambia and you have a thousand followers on one of your social networking sites who are interested in what you do. But yeah, I think it’s about having the interest in something and following it through, It is…..I hate to use the word…… passion.
‘From the Vault’ entailed that we had to go into the storage spaces of both Fort Hare and Stellenbosch Universities to unearth these collections which have accumulated so much history as an attempt to bring them into the light. We were not so much interested in the grand narrative nor the well-known artists, but we aimed to reveal histories that have been silenced or hidden by remaining in the vault. We also aimed to identify gaps in these histories. We are also aware that in exposing the silenced, we were silencing others too.
Activism is made to resist, to build and to share awareness and knowledge. Activism is made to implement changes in the collectives and in the society. Take a look at Steve Biko or Winnie and Nelson Mandela, take a look at Fela Kuti, take a look at Martin Luther King or Muhammad Ali, take a look at Franz Fanon or Sarojini Naidu (the only lady standing ahead the Salt March with Gandhi in 1930).
This article is a commentary on the Ridder Thirst LP, a double 12” vinyl record produced by artist and writer, Abri de Swardt. A remarkable project.
The record includes commissioned tracks by artists, student activists, curators, academics, musicians and writers in response to the state of tertiary education at Stellenbosch University amidst the rise of student protests taking place at the University of Cape Town and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
Each of the four sides of the record presents two tracks in dialogue, pairing divergent formats such as judiciary documents, punk music, the lecture, the fable, spoken word poetry and paralinguistic expressions, to foreground listening as political act.
I would say my practice is centered around me trying to understand myself, the world I’m living in, where I’ve come from and how my identity is affected by all the places that I navigate and move through.