“Mandela was not the only head of state taken in by Koagne. Le king kept snapshots of himself with many a man of power, among them Mobutu Sese Seko and Denis Sassou Nguesso […] He took Mobutu for 15 million dollars. Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso lost 40 million to him. Sassou, Etienne Eyadéma of Togo, several high officials of Gabon, Tanzania and Kenya, a member of the Spanish government and an ex-operative of the Israeli Mossad were bamboozled as well.” – Dominique Malaquais (Blood Money: A Douala Chronicle).
Bantu Serenade by Ntone Edjabe (featuring Nah-ee-lah) (read excerpt)
Santu Mofokeng: Trajectory of a street photographer (part1) (read excerpt)
Binyavanga Wainaina: Hell In Bed With Mrs Peprah (read excerpt)
Dominique Malaquais: Lindela (the winnie suite) (read excerpt)
Boubacar Boris Diop: Myriem (read excerpt)
Cover:
Neo Muyanga
Simnikiwe Buhlungu
Simnikiwe Buhlungu is an artist from Johannesburg engaged in a research-based practice that involves film, sound, installations, and text. In brief, her works seem to ask important and long-overdue questions about the nature of knowledge production and dissemination, as well as the contexts and circumstances that surround these epistemological phenomena.
A way in which Buhlungu re-interprets the assimilation of knowledge is by exploring language and the relationships between messages – whether conveyed visually, linguistically, or sonically. She is more interested in posing questions than providing answers, which catalyses social discourse and participatory, co-curative knowledge-making.
Buhlungu has previously taken part in group shows at the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2022); Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town (2021); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2020, 2021); Grazer Kunstverein, Graz (2019); and the Bergen Assembly (2019). Her debut solo exhibition, dissonated underings [hic!], after-happenings and khuayarings (sithi “ahhhh!”), took place at the Kunsthalle Bern (2022).
