XJAZZ! FESTIVAL 2023
14. MAY
Gugulethu Duma (aka D U M A M A) explores intersectionality in her transdiscplinary artistic practice allowing the structures in formlessness to simply be. Her practice involves consciously deconstructing and critiquing archaic modes of representation of Southern African/African sonic and performance culture, while also composing music for herself and others. Ritualising modes of togetherness, Dumama is concerned with the ways in which new forms can organically emerge when collaborations can center in intimacy and openness. As a compelling storyteller and lyricist, she works to seamlessly to mend together the divide between traditional South African oral culture and futuristic globally-oriented poetics, with a delicate care and awareness of the value of both. As an emerging curator and cultural organiser, Gugulethu intentionally works to bring artists together in immersive sensory experiences. Her debut curatorial venture ancestral body noise, produced in collaboration with Oyoun Berlin, is a testament to this. Her current ongoing process as an artist in residency with Solo Magic Radical Black Femme Project, is a personal reflection on digital ritual, mourning in the morning and voicing what hope owes to the night.