The Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS) at the University of Johannesburg, University of KwaZulu-Natal and Critical Arts journal are pleased to invite you to the first Ntongela Masilela Colloquium. The aim of the colloquium is to commemorate and engage critically the historical and scholarly contribution of Ntongela Masilela (1948-2020) and his New African Movement. For Masilela, the New African Movement which stretched over a century from about 1862 (Tiyo Soga) to 1960 (Ezekiel Mphahlele) consisted of writers, political and religious leaders, artists, teachers, scientists who called themselves New Africans, especially New African intellectuals. The New Africans were engaged with creating knowledge of modernity (new ideas, new perspectives, new formulations) rather than finding consolation in the old ways of traditional societies.

By scouring the archive of this period, Masilela coined the term ‘the New African Movement’ to theorise the work of the most influential intellectuals of the time, who turned modernity on its head by using its tools to advance a counter-hegemonic project of freedom and liberation.

RSVP on Registration Form  to receive the Zoom details and programme.

Email vanessak@uj.ac.za if you encounter problems.