24/02/2026
VIAD Saturdays are currently dedicated to Q***ring the Ga(y)ze. The call is toward q***r communion. This past Saturday, VIAD’s Radical | Others communed with PAP Studios, the British Council, and a stunning intergenerational audience for Ancestral Q***rness.
We worked through notions of ancestral q***rness in a truly sacred experience of conversation and co-learning. The day began with listening. Not looking. Listening to an introductory reflection on integration by the Reverend Elder Nokuthula Dhladhla. As we sat listening to the audio recording, the space was grounded by silent thought. Rooted by tender reflection rather than the usual performance of expert knowledge, the individual was able to warm themselves to the collective effort. Dhladhla mused about the continuing labour of integrating seemingly contradictory spirits: God and ancestry, through the being of q***r living. After the Reverend Elder’s opening, we sat with Buhlebendalo Mda and Albert "Ibokwe" Khoza. As artists and sangomas, they brought us into their warm friendship as though we were in a WhatsApp group, sharing memories and stories and questions and challenges just as much as sharing wisdom and personal truths.
By the time we went to breakaway workshops with House of Ditsie crafting journeys of personal affirmation to one side & Makhosazana Xaba provoking us to find our bloodline to find poetry on the other, it was a tender occasion of co-feeling what the day’s memory project was doing amongst us. The Nkoli Experiment closed the day, and band leader of the Simon Nkoli sonic invocation, Mawethu Nkosana, sang in repetition, "This is for our survival!"
Writing as Radical | Other's research coordinator, I, Nondumiso Lwazi Msimanga, felt myself at home rather than host, relishing the opportunity to sit listening rather than asking questions.
Image Credits: Takalani Mafumo
To join the next sitting, please RSVP: https://zaf01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpapstudios.info%2F%3Futm_source%3Dig%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_content%3Dlink_in_bio%26fbclid%3DPAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnOvoS9eE_2hIStFpKIZG9Oa3HX57rleS9Z6dO64OCqEsEIQM8qaP8cJYdSpQ_aem_daKRh_7uTEWAstL0of2HvA&data=05%7C02%7Cjmulombo%40uj.ac.za%7C01c0a8cadb4a489f444c08de72d64dfb%7Cfa785acd36ef41bc8a9489841327e045%7C0%7C0%7C639074462104618231%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=mL14vDlet58unROlAZGSUYFltq6H02KlUG79QZd5EIo%3D&reserved=0
***ringthegayze ***rcartographies ***rancestries ***reconomies
