Blogs

Recently, the University of Cape Town (UCT) student organization #RhodesMustFall, displayed a banner proclaiming: “Dear History: This revolution has women, gays, queers, and trans. Remember that.” It was a profound declaration that the old politics of the left can no longer hold, and that the masculinist, male-dominated forms of oppositional politics that centred the male subject as the defining agent of transformation must be confronted.... 

Achille Mbembe will present 'The Planetary Turn of the African Predicament' at the New School (Wollman Hall, Eugene Lang College. 65 West 11th Street Room B500, New York, NY), on Wednesday, 10 February at 6pm.

WiSER PhD student Ellison Tjirera writes for Insight Namibia (Dec 2015/Jan 2016) on the Dried Peas Control Ordinance and the politics of drinking under apartheid.

Hlonipha Mokoena has been quoted in an article by Rea Khoabane for the Sunday Times on the politics of wearing doeks, headscarves, and turbans.

Achille Mbembe in conversation at the recent Nuit des Idées at the Quai d'Orsay.

Victoria J. Collis-Buthelezi and Achille Mbembe have both contributed essays to a special edition of Arts and Humanities in Education titled 'State of Urgency: The Humanities in South Africa.' See more here.

WiSER PhD student and visual artist Ruth Sacks will present a paper at this year's conference of the College Art Association in Washington, DC.

WiSER PhD students Emery Kalema and Ruth Sacks organised a four-day workshop in Kinshasa titled 'Mediating Past, Present and Future: Historical narratives and 20th/21st century art; Dialogues with Global South experiences.' The project is a cross-disciplinary collaboration between Kinshasa (l’Académie des Beaux Arts, Democratic Republic of the Congo), Johannesburg (Wits School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa) and São Paulo (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil).

Achille Mbembe will take part in La Nuit des idées at the Quai d’Orsay on 27 January. The event brings into conversation artists, intellectuals, and architects to imagine tomorrow's world. See here for more information.

~ WiSER WELCOMES YOU TO OUR 2016 PROGRAMME ~

The Institute has undergone a period of reflection. We are determined to respond creatively to the historic challenges put to us all by the student movement in 2015. We embrace the critique that has been made of South African institutions and we want to actively contribute to changing and re-inventing our University as we move forward into the year.