Histories of the Invisible is a poetic and musical performance by Dr Andile Khumalo in collaboration with Siphiwe Shiburi, Raimi Gbadamosi, Dean Salant, Andisiwe Mpinda and Velaphi Ramphele. It was performed at The Centre for the Less Good Idea in July 2018 as part of the For Once programme.

Using live, looped, and responsive music and sound, as well as spoken word, Histories of the Invisible grapples with notions of home, migration, access, displacement and the role that culture and tradition play in all of this.

The performance opens with spoken word by Mpinda – the first of many short-form monologues and textual fragments – giving way to an abstract soundscape that sets the tone of the work. Flags hang from the ceiling like compasses in a state of disarray. In the absence of language, there is a groaning, shrieking refrain, claustrophobic and clawing. The music becomes jarring and incongruous. It is a swelling soundscape of rolling drum patterns and digital flotsam that serves to disrupt and to translate the notions of existence and placelessness through sonic tactics.

“Please, don’t call me a refugee,” says Mpinda’s character. “Home is a language you grew in your mouth. I bring you something you do not want – news of the country I am trapped in.”

Through the simple, but enduring premise of sound and poetry, Histories of the Invisible journeys through the conditions of escape, citizenship, authenticity, outsiderness and historical and present-day migration. Rather than striving towards any certain resolutions, it is a performance that presents a reflection on unequal journeys, and a set of provocations towards the many ways in which we move through the world.

– David Mann

CREDITS:

PERFORMER | Andisiwe Mpinda
MUSICIANS | Velaphi Ramphele, Siphiwe Shiburi & Dean Salant
COMPOSER | Dr Andile Khumalo
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR | Raimi Gbadamosi
CINEMATOGRAPHER | Kutlwano Makgalemele
EDITOR | Noah Cohen
PROJECT MANAGER | Shruthi Nair
STAGE MANAGER | Hayleigh Evans & POPArt Productions