THE OPEN MOMENT | VENUS IN FOUR ACTS
On Friday 20 March 2026, The Centre for the Less Good Idea presented The Open Moment | Venus in Four Acts with scholar, curator, and critic Tiffany E. Barber; poet and performer Lebogang Mashile; and musician and performer Ann Masina.
Together with musicians Bongile Gorata Lecoge-Zulu, Nosipho Qhayiso, Mapule Moloi, Vhahangwele Moopo, and Larissa Johnson, this Open Moment follows a four-day workshop at The Centre, exploring notions and representations of the body in opera, Black feminisms, institutional critique, and the ethics of looking.
While this Open Moment can be engaged as a stand-alone offering, the work shared here is also to be viewed in the context of Collation 4 | The Maskandalification of Opera, which took place at The Centre from 23 to 25 April 2026. From the work developed here, the short-form, experimental opera Venus in Four Acts emerged.
Anchored in an imagining of the many lives of Saartjie Baartman, the Open Moment demonstrates some of the written and embodied practices employed by the artists in their research and exploration.
— David Mann
PHOTOGRAPHER | Zivanai Matangi
CREDITS:
CONCEPTUALISERS | Ann Masina, Lebogang Mashile & Tiffany E. Barber
PERFORMERS & MUSICIANS | Ann Masina, Lebogang Mashile, Tiffany E. Barber, Bongile Gorata Lecoge-Zulu, Nosipho Qhayiso, Mapule Moloi, Vhahangwele Moopo, Larissa Johnson & Dimakatso Motholo-Miya
CHOREOGRAPHER | Tiffany E. Barber
MUSICAL DIRECTORS | Larissa Johnson & Bongile Gorata Lecoge-Zulu
MOMENTEUR | Athena Mazarakis
INDIVIDUAL COMPOSITION CREDITS:
ONZALA BANTU
COMPOSER | Ann Masina
PERFORMERS | Ann Masina, Mapule Moloi, Vhahangwele Moopo, Nosipho Qhayiso
ARRANGERS | Bongile Gorata Lecoge-Zulu & Larissa Johnson
LIBRETTO | Lebogang Mashile
NJIBABA
ORIGINAL COMPOSER | Georges Bizet
PERFORMERS | Ann Masina, Lebogang Mashile, Tiffany E. Barber, Bongile Gorata Lecoge-Zulu, Nosipho Qhayiso, Mapule Moloi, Vhahangwele Moopo & Larissa Johnson
ARRANGER | Ann Masina
LIBRETTO | Ann Masina & Lebogang Mashile
NGIBUYISE IGAMA LAMI
ORIGINAL COMPOSER | Jethro Louw
PERFORMERS | Ann Masina, Mapule Moloi, Vhahangwele Moopo, Nosipho Qhayiso, Larissa Johnson, Bongile Gorata Lecoge-Zulu, Dimakatso Motholo-Miya
ARRANGER | Larissa Johnson
LIBRETTO | Ann Masina
HANGWE
ORIGINAL COMPOSER | Vhahangwele Moopo
LIBRETTO | Vhahangwele Moopo
ARRANGERS | Larissa Johnson & Bongile Gorata Lecoge-Zulu
CNN TALKING HEADS
LIBRETTO | Tiffany E. Barber & Lebogang Mashile
PERFORMERS | Tiffany E. Barber, Lebogang Mashile & Bongile Gorata Lecoge-Zulu
HE-AAA
ORIGINAL COMPOSER | Mapule Moloi
PERFORMERS | Ann Masina, Lebogang Mashile, Tiffany E. Barber, Bongile Gorata Lecoge-Zulu, Nosipho Qhayiso, Mapule Moloi, Vhahangwele Moopo & Larissa Johnson
ADVERT
ORIGINAL COMPOSER | Léo Delibes
ARRANGER | Ann Masina & Vhahangwele Moopo
LIBRETTO | Tiffany E. Barber & Lebogang Mashile