Composed, arranged and performed by Neo Muyanga, this audio cd supplement was part of the Chimurenga Chronicle (October 2011) , a speculative newspaper which is issue 16 of Chimurenga.
Tracklist:
a) 1+1= (a re-composition of a 5000-year-old offering to Lord Ganesha, the Hindu deity, an opener of sorts)
b) 4:7 (heaven’s on the ocean is a proportional refrain on reaching nirvana, the 7th grade, via the mundane material world)
c) 3sin= rθ (sino projection technology theme)
d) 3(x)n (illegal border crossing and migration theme. composed for dancers)
e) e=mcx \rightarrow \infty (a true story about an explosive riot day with SADF soldiers who attacked Soweto on June 16th, 1985. Composed for those who got hurt)
f) ƒ:X→Y (horizon heart aflame. Composed for a lover)
g) (a summing of random themes theme)
h) 4x+2 (the 2 or 4 step theme)
i) y~ 6/8 (a travelling theme in 6 parts over eight. Composed for puppets)
j) y\ge \!\, 6/8 (a running theme in 6 parts over 8 )
k) 1/4° (a kota bread theme. Composed for skolies and thieves)
l) (a perpetual circle. Composed for an apartheid-era multi-racial soccer club)
Beyond The Chrysalis was curated by Nneoma Angela Okorie in 2023. Nneoma is a Nigerian curator and researcher. She was the ARAK Collection second 2023 Curatorial Residency Fellowship Recipient. To forge a personal visual language is to interrogate the world unrestrained by the boundaries of what is customary, a crucial signifier, and of real consequence to the rally for the representation of pluralities. Beyond The Chrysalis marks the non-linear paths, the detours, and the overlapping phases of an artist's practice. To enter this space is also to be aware of the three accomplices relevant to this inquiry: the artistic language, the approach to making, and the trails that meander through the recesses of an artist's imagination. The publication presents thirty-two works by three artists; Gor Soudan, Maliza Kiasuwa, and Khalid Abdel Rahman. What is critical is the interrogation of each artist's approach, dwelling on a framework indicative of a changing climate that situate art from the continent within broader frameworks, relevant to our time (post-colonial) rather than isolating it as a static object of study. The artists have developed distinct vocabularies which present a counter-narrative rooted in their lived experiences and identity to assert their agency.