You’re in Chains Too

The Stellenbosch University Staff Student Collective, in collaboration with Africa Open – Institute for Music, Research and Innovation at Stellenbosch University and the South African Jazz Cultures and the Archive Project at the University of York, present #YoureInChainsToo, a jazz and poetry concert in the Kruiskerk, Stellenbosch, on Friday, 18 November 2016 from 7pm.

The event takes place in solidarity with victims of violence resulting from the protests and the security response to these protests and wants to highlight the plight of students who have been wrongfully persecuted by excessive force and unprovoked police brutality. By jointly arranging a creative reflection on events that have taken place in the recent past on South African campuses, students and staff from Stellenbosch University want to start restoring trust between different members of the university community by acknowledging the pain and reflecting on the trauma of our students. We wish to allow students and staff to express concern about the effects of secularization on our campus and to rally materially to support those of our students who find themselves in dire circumstances.

No admission charges apply, but donations in support of materially distressed students are encouraged.

The Stellenbosch University Staff Student Collective is an informal grouping of students and staff who meet intermittently to facilitate dialogue and address student needs and concerns arising from the Fallist movement.

Africa Open is a newly established independent interdisciplinary institute located in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University.

South African Jazz Cultures and the Archive is a British Academy Newton Advanced Fellowship project designed to facilitate a critical engagement with archival initiatives in South African jazz.

The event will consist of performances by the following artists, curated by Aryan Kaganof:

Poets: Nathan Trantraal, Lesego Rampolokeng, Stacy Hardy, Afurakan, Khadija Tracey Heeger, Siphokazi Jonas, Dr. Lwazi Lushaba

Musicians Louis Moholo-Moholo (drums) Kyle Shepherd (piano), Nduduzo Makhathini (piano), Jitsvinger (hip hop artist and poet), AS IS (with Niklas Zimmer – drums; Garth Erasmus – saxophone and self–built instruments; Manfred Zylla – trombone, tuba, euphonium), Emile YX Jansen & Heal The Hood (hip hop artist), KHOI KONNEXION, Siyabonga Njica (guitarist), Trio SEK

Louis Moholo-Moholo was born in Cape Town. He formed The Blue Notes with Chris McGregor, Johnny Dyani, Nikele Moyake, Mongezi Feza and Dudu Pukwana. After emigrating to Europe in 1964 and eventually settling in London, he formed part of a South African exile community that made an important contribution to British jazz. He was a member of the Brotherhood of Breath, a big band comprising several South African exiles and leading musicians of the British free jazz scene in the 1970s and is the founder of Viva la Black and The Dedication Orchestra. He has played with many musicians, including Derek Bailey, Steve Lacy, Evan Parker, Enrico Rava, Roswell Rudd, Irène Schweizer, Cecil Taylor, John Tchicai, Archie Shepp, Peter Brötzmann, Mike Osborne, Keith Tippett, Elton Dean and Harry Miller.

Kyle Shepherd is one of South Africa’s leading progressive pianists and composers of his generation, and is fast gaining international recognition for his distinctive compositional style and performances. He has a well-established record of celebrated performances in South Africa, Europe, Asia, Canada and the USA, and has already released five critically acclaimed albums. He is a recipient of both the coveted UNISA National Piano Competition Award in 2015 and the Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year Award in the Jazz Category in 2014. Shepherd regularly performs in concert as a Solo pianist, while also leading his Trio, with Shane Cooper (double bass) and Jonno Sweetman (drums).

Nduduzo Makhathini is a South African jazz musician from Umgungundlovu, South Africa. He hails from a musical family (his mother was a pianist and his father a guitarist), his love for music was triggered at an early age. Makhathini has toured the world and shared the stage with musicians such as Zim Ngqawana, Feya Faku Quintet, McCoy Mrubata. Aside from producing multiple award winning albums, Makhathini was the recipient of the 2015 Standard Bank Young Artist Award in the category of Jazz.

Lesego Rampolokeng was born in 1965 in Orlando West, Johannesburg. Oral folk traditions and contemporary rap music echo throughout his work, and he often incorporates music into his performances. He has performed in many countries and with musicians such as Julian Bahula, Soulemane Toure, Louis Mhlanga and Gunther Sommer. He has also shared a stage with local and international poets including Kgafela oa Magogodi, Lefifi Tladi, Lebo Mashile and Natalia Molebatsi.

Jitsvinger (Quintin Goliath) is an established Cape Flats born conceptual writer, composer, educator, musician and performing artist. As a solo artist, Jitsvinger’s has enchanted performed on renowned stages with artistic legends such as Antjie Krog, David Kramer and Burni Aman at the Versindaba, Spier Poetry Exchange, Poetry Africa Festival, as well as featuring in the headline collaboration with Pops Mohamed at Speak the Mind Poetry Festival. His versatility as a storyteller and contemporary artist pushed traditional boundaries when he collaborated with opera soprano and Juilliard School graduate, Golda Schultz, for the South African TV series Head Wrap. Jitsvinger became the first hip hop artist to perform at the Grahamstown Standard Bank Jazz Festival where he collaborated with the Kyle Shepherd Trio.

Khadija Tracey Heeger was raised on the Cape Flats in the township of Hanover Park. In 2007 she was commissioned to write a multidisciplinary theatrical poetry piece in collaboration with indigenous soundscape artists, Khoi konnexion, for the Spier Poetry Festival in 2008. This piece was later taken to the Grahamstown Festival in 2009.She has also performed in Amherst in the USA as part of an artist’s exchange programme.

Khoi Khonnexion (Jethro Louw, Glen Arendse and Garth Erasmus) has been performing in Cape Town for ten years, during which time they have risen to the forefront of the first nation arts movement in South Africa. The self-taught band members describe Khoi Konnexion as a performance poetry and cultural activism group. They use various handmade bow instruments such as the mouth bow and the bass bow, which are modified versions of the bows historically used by the Khoi for hunting.

Siphokazi Jonas was born in King William's Town, South Africa. This promising academic has obtained a Masters degree in English literature, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama and English, from the University of Cape Town. It was also here that she started poetry sessions and researched contemporary performance poetry in South Africa. Jonas has a diverse performance portfolio, whether it be open mic stints at Inzync Poetry Sessions in Stellenbosch, Expression Session in Worcester or Kuilsriver, or as an opening act for American poets Ezekiel Azonwu, Janette…Ikz and Alysia Harris. She is also one of two co-curators of Poetica 2015, which is a part of the Open Book Festival, and a member of the poetry collective Exodus Klan.

Heal the Hood was established by South African hip hop pioneer Emile YX? of Black Noise in 1998. Black Noise is South Africa's oldest active hip-hop crew and Emile (Jansen) has been instrumental in employing Black Noise for youth development initiatives. Heal the Hood has become an NPO that creates activities and empowers youth with hip hop element skills like b-boying, dj-ing, mc-ing, writing and knowledge of self. Jansen has also launched landmark hip-hop events such as the annual Hip-Hop Indaba, African Battle Cry and Shut Up and Dance.

Siyabonga Njica was born in Gugulethu, Cape Town. Njica wrote his first poem at the age of 15 in a grade nine class at Cape Town High School. In 2011 at age 17, he took part in a local poetry competition called Vukani Spoken Word Competition, and a year later he performed at a UCT Faculty of Humanities event. In 2013, Njica was one of the poets chosen to represent South Africa at the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Competition in Chicago, USA. The team made the top four in the final stage. In 2014, he was again chosen to represent South Africa in the same competition this time in Philadelphia where the team came in second place. In 2013, he co-founded the poetry collective Whispers of Wisdom with Sechaba Nkitseng and Neo Mokgopa, who have performed on Expresso, the SABC3 breakfast show, as well as TEDxCapeTown 2013.

As Is is an ensemble of visual/sonic artists performing spontaneous compositions of sound/improvised music. The members are Garth Erasmus (saxophones & traditional African instruments), Niklas Zimmer (drums) and Manfred Zylla (trombone, accordion, violin). Friends and collaborators include Brendon Bussy, Aryan Kaganof, Ulrich Suesse, Andrew Emdon, Julian Emdon, Jarrett Erasmus, Ingrid Lee, Alexandre Merancienne, Mandla Mlangeni, Andrea Dico, Lliezel Ellick, Richard Higgs and many others.

Afurakan, a Johannesburg based slam poet, has played a vital role in the growth of the spoken word movement in South Africa. He is best known for his stage improvisations on hip-hop tunes. His activity within Johannesburg's poetry movement can be traced back to the So where to poetry events and his work with the poetry collective Soul 2 Mouth. He is also a regular at schools and community centres, performing for the purpose of spreading the word. Afurakan is a founding member of THEMISSINGAP alongside beat box legend _BlastTheHumanBeat and DJ Duce.

Nathan Trantraal is the co-creator of the Coloureds and Crossroads comic books (along with brother André Trantraal). He is also the additional pencil-artist on Stormkaap: Drome kom altyd andersom uit and is currently working on another comic called Issues. His collection of poems, Chokers en Survivors, won the 2015 Ingrid Jonker debut prize and the ATKV-Woordveertjie prize for poetry in 2014.

Stacy Hardy is a writer based in Cape Town. Her writing has appeared in a wide range of publications and several of her short stories have been published in books, literary anthologies and catalogues from around the world. She has presented work and performed at numerous festivals and conferences in Europe, the USA and across Africa. She recently completed the libretto for an opera in collaboration with South African poet Lesego Rampolokeng. Her short film I Love You Jet Li, created in collaboration with Jaco Bouwer, was awarded Best Experimental Film at the Festival Chileno Internacional Del Cortometraje De Santiago 2006.

Dr Lwazi Lushaba has a BA (Hons) from the University of Transkei, an MA in Philosophy from the University of Ibadan (Nigeria), an MPhil from the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences in Kolkata, and a PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand. He currently holds a permanent post within the department of political science at UCT, and has held a Visiting Fellowship at the African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands. Lushaba’s interests include political philosophy, in particular German phenomenology and Enlightenment philosophy, decolonial thought, the politics of representation, African Politics, and radical African/Black traditions of intellectual thought.