Broken Chord | Gregory Maqoma and Thuthuka Sibisi

The Producing Knowledge In and Of Africa workshop series continues with a Stanford Live performance of Broken Chord by Gregory Maqoma, followed by a talkback with the creative team.

South African choreographer Gregory Maqoma is a curatorial visionary who merges movement, theater, dance, visuals, and music with a sense of pulse and breath. Featuring four soloists and an onstage a cappella chorus, Maqoma’s new work tells the story of a South African–based chorus whose tour through North America and England in the late 19th century was marred by the realities of racism. The piece concretizes the burden of the white gaze and what it feels like to move beyond the constricting box it constructs.

Visit this website for more information

About the Series

Knowledge Production in Africa is a contested topic. Recent calls have been made – both within the academy and without – to “decolonize” the production and circulation of knowledge about Africa, and to think about the artistic and cultural aspects of this “production.” This involves attention to institutional power dynamics within universities and corporations and efforts to reconceptualize modes of knowledge production beyond the Western academic framework. Our proposed workshop will draw together scholars and practitioners within the social sciences, humanities, arts and the sciences to investigate these pressing concerns. We will focus on three key themes: 1) How might we create robust dialogue between “intellectual” versus “cultural” production of knowledge in Africa? 2) How does knowledge production about Africa manifest both in different and in convergent ways within African scholarship and praxis? 3) What are the ethical implications and responsibilities of researching and presenting on Africa in the Euro-American academy?