Arts writer
To celebrate Africa month, The African Arts Institute is presenting an early winter African Arts Campus at various venues around the city this month.
This week’s events include an African female reggae/ dancehall selectors section featuring Thokozile Nwebani today from 3pm to 4pm at the Cape Town City Library. Nwebani was born into a rastafarian family, and her involvement with music and dance started at a very young age.
Performing at theatres around the city she has since initiated a dancehall queen crew known as the Riddim Rascals and coined a DJ name for herself (DJ Gyal-Weed) – a female selector dedicated to playing higher grade music.
For her session DJ Gyal-Weed will introduce a detailed history on how reggae/dancehall was introduced in South Africa to the rastafarian movement. This timeline dates from the 90’s to the contemporary growth of this music genre. She will also touch on the role that reggae/dancehall played during the political struggle during Apartheid and how much this music was motivated by black empowerment during the years of Struggle.
Her session will also look at women’s roles in this movement and international perspectives on the genres. Audio-visual materials will include the history of Jamaican music, Bob Marley’s cultural legacy: an African-centered documentary, a 15 bonus screening on the local dancehall movement, plus a 15-minute mix from DJ Gyal-Weed.
For Indian Oceans, Contemporary Art and Urban Culture and Cities in Africa by Ashraf Jamal, this course will cover three themes, the first on contemporary South Africa and African art. The second will focus on the cultural exchange and mutual influences of Africa and the Indian Ocean. The third looks at Port Cities and Intruders, looking particularly at Cape Town and understanding our story within it. It takes place from Tuesday to Thursday from 5.30pm to 7pm at the District Six Museum Homecoming Centre.
Jamal is a cultural analyst currently based in the Faculty of Design & Informatics at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Jamal trained at the Universities of Sussex (UK), New Brunswick (Canada), Wisconsin-Milwaukee (USA) and KwaZulu-Natal. He has taught in the fields of world literature, post-coloniality, media studies, and visual culture at the Universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch, KwaZulu-Natal, Rhodes, Malaya (Malaysia), and Eastern Mediterranean (Northern Cyprus).
Jamal has written numerous papers and monographs on local art, as well as written and directed plays. He was shortlisted for the MNET Prize for his novel about the Cape Town art scene, Love themes for the wilderness.
Musician Sylvestre Kabbassidi will lead a feature on Congolese Music in Cape Town on Wednesday at 3pm at The Cape Town City Library. This session will take participants through the history and origins of la rumba and kwassa-kwassa – from its debut to the 21st century with music samples. The session will also look at the influence of Congolese music in the global music world and the scene in Cape Town, as well as how Congolese music is contributing to South Africa in general.
The last 20-minutes of the session will include an interactive live performance.
Born in the Congo Republic/ Brazzaville, Kabbassidi is a singer and story teller who emphasizes melody using positive messages to make people more conscious of relevant issues affecting the world around them.
Whether he sings in French, Lari, Lingala, Munukutuba, Kabbassidi’s musical journey is one with multiple inspirations. He has performed alongside Freshly Ground, Stef Bos, Ismael Lo, Aurluce Mabele, Papa Wemba, Salif Keita.
l The African Arts Institute is giving away bursaries, see www. afai.org.za A letter of motivation and CV can to be sent to info@ afai.org.za