On the 27th of July, The Keleketla Media Arts Project launched their latest publication, Wondering Hand(s) and Spirited Ink: Snapshots into the Black Public Humanities (2024) at their Troyeville location. For years Keleketla! has been an indelible symbol of resilience and communal spirit and it was a great delight to be invited to their commercial site, propped up by years of solid relationships. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic, these walls continue to emit the echoes of triumphant tenacity etched onto every inch of this iconic space.
Part of this epic narrative was proudly relayed by one of the co-founders, Malose Malahlela and the event was MCed by the other co-founder, the newly minted Dr Rangoato Hlasane who also co-edited the book with Moshibudi Motimele. This collection of essays was inspired by the 2019 Narrative Enquiry for Social Transformation (NEST) colloquium and developed with the principal support of NEST, with additional support of AfricaNoFilter, and the University of the Witwatersrand’s Faculty of Humanities.
Culture Review wrote that the essays explore various sites beyond the traditional academic spaces—like art galleries, stages, and townships—as key areas of knowledge production. The book’s blurb reads, “The aim of the collection is to create a pedagogical device that foregrounds the sonic, aesthetic, epistemic and performative strategies of creating emancipatory thinking, feeling, imagining and being, that will contribute to critically expanding the decolonial Black archive.”
The book features noteworthy contributors including the artist, art writer, and historian, currently working as the curator and manager at the Standard Bank Gallery, Dr Same Mdluli whose chapter is called Complicities and Complexities: Art and Spirituality in Exhibitions of Black Artists in South African Galleries. In it, she explores the complexity of African art, particularly Black modern art in the late 20th century. Using the exhibitions A Black Aesthetic: A View of South African Artists (1970 -1990), which happened between 22 February and 18 April 2019; and Ngoma: Art and Cosmology, which took place at the Johannesburg Art Gallery from 8 December 2019 to 31 January 2020, she critiques colonial perspectives, addressing the challenges faced by modern African artists under European cultural dominance, and aims to redefine African art within modern and post-colonial contexts.
In addition to the editors and Dr Mdluli, contributors include Gorata Chengeta, Tumi Mogorosi, Ayabulela Mhlalo, Mawethu Nkosana, Nomancotsho Pakade, and Zuko Zikala, most of whom were present on the day. The editorial notes expand on the Interdependent (and intergenerational) Publishing and Mentorship between Keleketla! Library, Chimurenga, Pulp Paperworks who specialise in bookmaking and bookbinding, and INVADE- (who did the design and layout). INVADE- is a collective of three young Black women (Queenzela Mokoena, Nyakallo Phamuli and Omphemetse Ramatlhatse) who are alumni of the Wits School of Arts and specialise in RISO and silkscreen printing, book design and new publication forms.
The audience was treated to a dynamic day, beginning with introductions, leading into readings and discussions, with speakers exploring various aspects of the book’s production. The day’s agenda was paced by moments of reflection and an immersive introduction to the book’s contents. Throughout the proceedings, it felt as if we were all moving together, finding out and forming the thing as we went. At one point Motimele asserted, “The […] conversations we have in this room [are] going to impact part of what this book becomes.”
Thrillingly, we learned that the future of Keleketla is envisioned through new constructions and a multi-collaborative agency aimed at preserving historic buildings. “There’s two buildings that we plan to have up on the street,” Malahlela noted during his opening remarks, emphasizing an approach that combines commercial endeavours with social responsibility. “Working in a community is work. It’s always different”, he exclaimed. He spoke of Keleketla’s vision as an emotional and mental challenge intertwined with rewarding communal life and activities.
This was a transformative gathering that witnessed new knowledge and ideas in the making. Charged with excitement and camaraderie, it showcased the collaborative spirit that has always been an integral part of Keleketla! With so many different kinds of contributions from so many diverse voices, the book launch was a reiteration of Keleketla’s presence—a living, breathing monument to what can be achieved when people unite for a common cause. In case you missed it, the publication is available at Lit.Culture in Maboneng and Chimurenga Factory.
