The Department of Arts and Culture will on Monday, September 2017 host a colloquium in honour of the memory of the late Stephen Bantu Biko at the Gallery of Leaders, Freedom Park, in Pretoria. The colloquium will be hosted under the theme, “The Year of OR Tambo: Celebrating Our Liberation Heritage and Black Consciousness.”
2017 marks 40 year since the death of the black consciousness icon Stephen Bantu Biko in police custody in 1977. Biko was an anti-apartheid activist, the leader and founder of the Black Conscious Movement whose ideas contributed in influencing African consciousness. The colloquium will deal with a broad array of issues which exemplify Steve Biko’s life as an intellectual and a political activist. Among others, the contributors to the colloquium will reflect on the following critical questions:
- How should black consciousness be understood in view of the current context wherein political liberation has been achieved
- How can black consciousness be employed in the many measures aimed at achieving socio-economic redress
- How can black consciousness be canvassed to assist in the bridging of socio-historical divisions, mainly between black and white
- How should whiteness as a privileged subjectivity relate to black consciousness (what lessons can whiteness draw from black consciousness?)
A panel has been arranged for this colloquium. Singing sensation and philanthropist Simphiwe Dana will join an esteemed panel of political activists from the black consciousness school, including the Rev Basil Manning, Molefe Pheto and Cikizwa Dabula. Seating is on a first-come-first-served basis.
Members of the media are invited as follows:
Date: 11 September 2017
Time: 18h00
Venue: The Gallery of Leaders, Freedom Park, Pretoria
Media RSVP: Madimetja Moleba at Cell: 072 842 6594 / E-mail: madimetjam@dac.gov.za
Media enquiries:
Zimasa Velaphi
Cell: 072 172 8925
E-mail: ZimasaV@dac.gov.za
Teresa Magidela
Cell: 060 601 7724
E-mail: teresam@dac.gov.za
ForFor more information, please call:
Dr Abraham Chupe Serote
Cell: 060 984 7499
E-mail: abrahams@dac.gov.za
