Rhodes African Studies Centre - RASC

30/09/2025

16/09/2025

Rhodes African Studies Centre Seminars

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25/08/2025

Dear Research Community,

On behalf of the Department of Literary Studies in English and Rhodes University African Studies Centre, I am pleased to invite you to a book launch by Prof Marzia Milazzo titled
Colorblind Tools: Global technologies of Racial Power.

Date: 25 August 2025 (today)
Time: 17:30 for 18:00
Venue: AMAZWI South African Museum of Literature

Please see the attached advertised poster for more information.

12/03/2025

Concert & Pop-Up Exhibition: „Echoes of Tradition – Thandeka Mfinyongo

Join us this Thursday 13 March 2025 for a captivating evening of music and cultural celebration at Iwalewahaus, Bayreuth. Experience the evocative soundscapes of traditional Xhosa instruments as Thandeka Mfinyongo weaves powerful narratives of resilience, identity, and cultural pride, bridging past and present through her artistry.

This special concert will also feature performances by participants of the Instrument-Making and Music Workshop Series, showcasing instruments they handcrafted using beating sticks from Bayreuth’s forests and shades from South Africa – a beautiful synergy of tradition and innovation.

In addition, we invite you to explore our Pop-Up Exhibition, highlighting the self-made uhadis and documenting Thandeka’s journey in Bayreuth.

🕖 Concert starts at 7:00 PM | Doors open at 6:30 PM
🚪 Venue: Iwalewahaus
💰Admission FREE of charge

26/02/2025

Save the Date! Concert & Pop-Up Exhibition: "Echoes of Tradition – Thandeka Mfinyongo in Bayreuth"

As part of the Ingoduko (Homecoming) project, join us for a captivating evening of music and cultural celebration on 13 March 2025 at Iwalewahaus, Bayreuth. Experience the evocative soundscapes of traditional Xhosa instruments as Thandeka Mfinyongo weaves powerful narratives of resilience, identity, and cultural pride, bridging past and present through her artistry.

This special concert will also feature performances by participants of the Instrument-Making and Music Workshop Series, showcasing instruments they handcrafted using beating sticks from Bayreuth’s forests and shades from South Africa – a beautiful synergy of tradition and innovation.

In addition, we invite you to explore our Pop-Up Exhibition, highlighting the self-made uhadis and documenting Thandeka’s journey in Bayreuth.

🕖 Concert starts at 7:00 PM | Doors open at 6:30 PM
🚪 Venue: Iwalewahaus
🚪 Admission free of charge


Don't miss this unforgettable celebration of music, craftsmanship, and cultural storytelling!
More info: ttps://www.africamultiple.uni-bayreuth.de/en/Important-Dates/2025-03-13-Thandeka-grand-finale/index.html


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Bitte notieren! Konzert und Pop-Up Ausstellung: „Echos der Tradition – Thandeka Mfinyongo in Bayreuth“

Im Rahmen des Ingoduko (Homecoming)-Projekts laden wir Sie am 13. März 2025 zu einem fesselnden Abend voller Musik und kultureller Feier in das Iwalewahaus in Bayreuth ein. Erleben Sie die eindrucksvollen Klanglandschaften traditioneller Xhosa-Instrumente, während Thandeka Mfinyongo kraftvolle Erzählungen über Widerstandsfähigkeit, Identität und kulturellen Stolz webt und mit ihrer Kunst eine Brücke zwischen Vergangenheit und Gegenwart schlägt.
Dieses besondere Konzert wird auch Auftritte von Teilnehmer*innen der Instrumentenbau- und Musikwerkstatt beinhalten, die handgefertigte Instrumente präsentieren, die sie mit Schlägeln aus den Wäldern Bayreuths und Materialien aus Südafrika hergestellt haben – eine wunderschöne Synergie aus Tradition und Innovation.

Darüber hinaus laden wir Sie ein, Thandeka Mfinyongos Pop-Up Ausstellung zu erkunden, die die selbstgemachten uhadis, traditionelle Xhosa-Musikbögen, hervorhebt und Thandekas Reise in Bayreuth dokumentiert.

🕖 Konzertbeginn: 19:00 Uhr (Einlass 18:30 Uhr)
🚪 Ort:
🚪 Eintritt frei

17/11/2024

Sounding African Music Heritage is part of the outreach of the research project Beyond the Digital Return: New Heritage/s, Sustainability, and the Decolonisation of Music Archives in South Africa, Kenya, and Ghana of the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bayreuth. It aims at sharing our academic interest and research with the public and the wider academic community. Sounding African Music Heritage highlights the re-creation of Intangible Cultural Heritage as a creative process and collaborative research practice.

The 2-day event makes the 3rd in a series of programmes on this topic. It features a seminar, a keynote lecture on “Music as Living Heritage,” a public roundtable on music archives, repatriation and safeguarding, and (popular) music heritage, an evening film screening and discussion of a documentary film on the Egazini – ILAM community outreach project in Makhanda/South Africa, filmed in 2023/24, as well as a live concert by the ensemble of Sona Diabaté from Guinea, an outstanding representative of Manding musical heritage.
For more information visit: https://www.africamultiple.uni-bayreuth.de/.../index.html

08/10/2024

Dear Members of RASC

On behalf of the Rhodes University African Studies Centre, I am pleased to invite you to our research seminar titled Tracing the Genealogy(ies) of Indirect Rule in the Ciskei: 1923-1951

The seminar will be face-to-face and hybrid and will take place
Date: 15 October 2024
Time: 13:00–14:00
Venue: Humanities Seminar Room

Zoom Link:
https://zoom.us/j/4866431001?pwd=OHAwbzh2Qy9FSnk3REVRUmhjZUM4QT09&omn=93558599489
Meeting ID: 486 643 1001
Passcode: 710835

Please see the attached advertised poster for more information.

20/09/2024

Dear Members of RASC

On behalf of the Rhodes University African Studies Centre (RASC), I am pleased to invite you to the Book Launch titled: Natural resource-based conflicts in rural Zimbabwe (Routledge, 2024) edited by Joshua Matanzima, Patience Chadambuka and Kirk Helliker.

The Book Launch will be a face-to-face and hybrid event and will take place on Tuesday 01 October 13h00 - 14h00, Humanities Seminar Room.

RSVP using the link below if you will be attending;
https://forms.gle/w1KoYe4fcjo86BTg7

Please see the attached advertised poster for more information

19/09/2024

Dear Members of RASC

On behalf of the Rhodes University African Studies Centre and the Department of Sociology, I am pleased to invite you to a public lecture by Professor Jörn Ahrens, Justus Liebig University Giessen (Germany)

Title:
Global Climate Change, the Idea of Sustainability, and the Emergence of a Third Nature.

Date: 03 October 2024
Time: 14:00–16:30
Venue: Confucius Seminar room

Please RSVP using the link below if you will be attending;
https://forms.gle/SdS7kvetUmuwgAb76

Please see the attached poster for more information.

12/09/2024

We enjoy Public Lectures at RASC! 💜

12/09/2024