Joburgers are invited to experience a music meets art experience when renowned jazz artist and historian Dr Nduduzo Makhathini performs for one night only at the Standard Bank Gallery, on Thursday, April 6, at 6pm.
The special performance is a celebration of multidisciplinary artist Buhlebezwe Siwani latest exhibition “Iyeza”.
The exhibition opened on February 23 and will run until Saturday, April 8.
Makhathini, who graduated with a PhD in Music from Stellenbosch University, is set to dazzle the guests with his internationally renowned album “In the Spirit of Ntu”.
The album won the Jazz Album of the Year award in Germany, following months of international tours in Europe and the US.
Speaking to IOL Entertainment, Makhathini said he was excited to be part of a celebration of “Iyeza,” which made its debut in Makhanda as part of the National Arts Festival in 2022.
“Iyeza” draws on Siwani’s memories, journey and practice as an initiated traditional healer.
“Iyeza” is a Xhosa word which usually refers to plant-derived medicine or “a substance that is meant to ward off dark spiritual energy” and call in the good.
“These spiritual energies are intrinsic to my work and form the central ideas around the exhibition pieces, how our bodies and spirits are tied to the earth and waters on and in which we are born and raised,” Siwani told IOL Entertainment.
With “Iyeza”, Siwani unpacks the many forms and uses of plants in “traditional medicines, rituals and daily life”.
The interactive exhibition is set to take guests on a spiritual journey through dance, water, wood, imphepho, eucalyptus tree stumps, grass, alongside imbola, umkhando and soil.
“The installations represent different forms of African spiritualism but I was also thinking about where my ancestors are from, most of them are from the Eastern Cape.
“So I was thinking about the aloe forex and I was thinking about imphepho and the church belts.
“As black people we use prayer, we use muti (traditional medicine) … we have amanzi (water) ... we have different things that we use to cleanse and heal ourselves.”
Siwani wants her guests to experience her art and, hopefully, walk away with a renewed sense of hope, “a sense of knowing that something is coming and that something is happening”.
“Most importantly, I hope that everybody will learn something and will go inquire a little bit more about their history and about us as a whole.”
Don’t miss Dr Nduduzo Makathini’s special performance at the Standard Bank Gallery, on Thursday.
The event is free and open to the public.