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30 May 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Rulanzen Martin
Africa Memorial lecture
From left; Dr Stephanie Cawood, Director of CGAS; Prof Francis Nyamnjoh; Prof Heidi Hudson, Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities, and Dr Engela van Staden, Vice-Rector: Academic
Ubuntu is a word we all know and, to some extent, relate to. Prof Francis Nyamnjoh aimed to delve and explore this African philosophy when he presented the 2019 Africa Day Memorial Lecture with the topic Ubuntuism and Africa: Actualised, Misappropriated, Endangered and Reappraised. 

The memorial lecture is hosted annually by the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies (CGAS) at the University of the Free State (UFS) to coincide with Africa Month celebrations. Prof Nyamnjoh holds a PhD from the University of Leicester in the UK. He is currently a professor of social anthropology at the University of Cape Town and has been a scholar in sociology, anthropology and communication science at universities in Cameroon and Botswana. The lecture took place on 22 May 2019 in the Equitas Auditorium on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus.

“When I saw the topic I thought this was very contemporary. We at the university decided to include the Ubuntu principle in our learning and teaching strategy,” said Dr Engela van Staden, Vice-Rector: Academic. 

Ubuntu as a binding factor for interconnectedness 

We live a world in which we cannot stand alone as the principle of Ubuntu tells us that we are who we are because of our interconnectedness with other people. “It is important to recognise that you stand on others to be tall,” said Prof Nyamnjoh. 

“We are the product of ongoing conversations on interconnectedness."

“I have argued that, in the spirit of Ubuntu, Africans, their identities and mobilities are part and parcel of the experience of being human in a world on the move. And their contributions are needed in today’s world more than ever. 

“I have broached the context of globalisation and histories of unequal encounters that have shaped relations in Africa and beyond under global capitalism."

“Even as it is increasingly seriously tested by opportunism, Ubuntuism, sometimes a reality and sometimes an ideal, brings hope and redemption, and offers a feasible framework for participatory and inclusive emancipatory social change,” said Prof Nyamnjoh. 


News Archive

‘Celebrating the music of our times’
2013-07-25

 

25 July 2013

The Odeion School of Music’s (OSM) New Music Week, hosted from 17–20 July 2013, offered an experience of profundity.

This was the second week-long festival of its kind to be hosted by the OSM – last year the 90th birthday of the South African composer, Stefans Grové, was celebrated with concerts and a symposium. This year the New Music Week focused on the visit of Ensemble Trans-Z under the artistic leadership of former OSM student, Alfred Vorster, a composer living in Zürich. The Order of the Odeion School of Music was bestowed upon Vorster during the festival. The members of the ensemble are the Belgian pianist Lukas Huisman, Danré Strydom (currently an OSM doctoral student in clarinet, based in Ghent), the Argentinian violinist Juan Braceras and the Swedish cellist Karolina Öhman (both currently living in Basel, Switzerland).

The week included three lectures. Lukas Huisman elucidated his doctoral project, Alfred Vorster offered an analytical perspective on the work of Helmut Lachenmann and Hannes Taljaard (Potchefstroom) delivered a commentary on his own composition practice. In addition to presenting masters’ classes in their individual instruments, Ensemble Trans-Z also hosted two workshops – one for the Mangaung String Project and another for OSM students and staff. These workshops focused on creative improvisation practices within an avant-garde style.

The highlight of the festival was two gala concerts that were held on 19 and 20 July. The first concert was hosted by Ensemble Trans-Z themselves, with a selection of compositions in the avant-garde style. The programme included challenging listening material and was creatively presented with unconventional lighting techniques and visual material.

The concert on 20 July consisted of New Music of a more conventional nature. The Odeion String Quartet offered a varied presentation which consisted of a rich mix of talent. OSM postgraduate students Marianne Cilliers, Karol Legierski and Eljee du Plooy formed part of this spectacular performance. The OSM flute lecturer, Handri Loots and the members of Ensemble Trans-Z supplied additional depth to the concert. The experience was made extra special by the recently-formed New Music Ensemble of the School of Music at the North-West University – led by Augusto Arias. Under conductorship of Jan-Moritz Onken, the OSM Camerata completed this impressive collaboration.

The Camerata’s recital of Hendrik Hofmeyr’s Phantom Waltz, which the composer newly arranged especially for this ensemble, was but one of the artistic highlights of an inspiring presentation.

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