Collabonations II & Tschuku Tschuku

The scramble for Africa saw borders erected where people meandered freely for centuries, searing into land and psyche alike. Borders like scars, are etched in collective consciousness. They cut deep, to an extent dismembering shared histories and traditions. CollaboNations seeks to dismantle these borders. Through a series of encounters with a selection of artists across Southern Africa, Kgafela le Marabele promote dialogue across the continent. The first chapter consists of a joint composition and series of travelling performances by Kgafela le Marabele and Tschuku Tschuku, two bands led by musicians, writers and theatre makers Kgafela oa Magogodi and Jacques Nashilongweshipwe Mushaandja.

CollaboNations is a venture geared towards archiving and fusing the gamut of musical and storytelling traditions which straddle artificial borders like the straight line separating Namibia and South Africa.  Performances fuse live music, storytelling and poetry in a fluid interplay between jazz, hip-hop lyricism and spoken word. This fluidity is also evident in the profusion of languages and genre bending display of influences. The assemblage of skilful instrumentalists comprises guitarists, vocalists, bassists and percussionists.   The performances will be held in Katutura Community Arts Centre, Windhoek, and the African Freedom Station on periphery of Sophiatown. Both locales have histories of articulating the genius of their times and harnessing the artistic imagination.  CollaboNations is an exercise in recalling the subversive temperaments of resistance art, stitching together fragments of a dismembered whole.