iSupport Creative Business, in partnership with the Music In Africa Foundation, presents its second exhibition as part of the Umongo Msindo project that aims to commemorate, showcase and bring the story of some of the unique musical heritage of South Africa to life. The exhibition, showcasing indigenous instruments, is an interactive exhibition that can be experienced at the University of Johannesburg, Kingsway Campus, during the Poetry Africa Festival from 6 to 12 October and on 14 and 15 October at the Glenhove Events Hub in Rosebank as part of The Voice of the Architect Short Film Festival.
uMongo Msindo is a project that aims to take audiences and musicians on a journey through the unique musical heritage of KwaZulu Natal – focusing on spotlighting its indigenous instrument players. This province bears a good supply of historical gems in some of the most rural areas of the region. These men and women trace the history, and Umongo Msindo tells these stories that may otherwise be forgotten. The spread of these musicians across the province brings forward an impressive additional reading of South Africa’s historical micro-narratives on musical instruments, history, and usages.
This installation, designed by exhibition architect Issa Wessels, brings musicians into conversations with their instruments through videos, textiles that function as interactive wall pieces, steel materials and a QR portal that expands on their work- all presented via a mobile museum structure.
Umongo Msindo seeks to embed and augment the contexts of the sound and instruments themselves and retell the story of sound itself, its waveform, its resonances, and its dimensions into a medium – all the ingredients to a recipe that the musical instruments share with us. Therefore, the exhibition becomes a portal of dialogue around materials and wastes specific to time contexts and sites – an aspect pertaining to this time in which we live and exist.
“It has been a long-time dream of our company to bring indigenous instruments, their players and the stories to life. This is such an important piece of archival work that we are beyond grateful to share outside of our own province with the generous support from Music In Africa”, says Mzwandile Ntsele, who co-curated the exhibition with his wife and business partner Marlyn Ntsele.
They have big dreams for the exhibition: “We would like it to be seen by as many people as possible. We ensured it is a mobile structure so it can easily tour, and other instruments could be added to the concept. We will also make sure learners get invited to this exhibition to share the importance and endless possibilities of indigenous instruments with a younger generation.” Says Marlyn Ntsele.
After this exhibition run, Umongo Msindo plans to launch its website featuring a digital exhibition consisting of augmented reality instruments that will also be extended into AR filters on social media.
This program is a part of the Music In Africa Live project, which is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, Siemens Stiftung and Goethe-Institut.
