kulimatji

single channel HD video, colour, stereo sound
37.27 min
2018

Kulimatji interweaves the life stories and the different ways of storytelling of the late !xun San master storyteller Kapilolo Mahongo and rapper/musician Baka Jashula aka Obrigado in Platfontein, South Africa. 'Kulimatji' is a word in the !xun language that indicates the stories that you as a person carry with you, tell and pass on. Kapilolo Mahongo tells traditional San stories that have been passed on for centuries from generation to generation, and also speaks about how colonialism affected him and his people when living in Angola and Namibia. They exist side by side with contemporary forms of storytelling. Like music: songs and rap made by the younger generation of the !xun community such as rapper Obrigado that detail daily life, as well as the worries and hardships the community currently faces. Since the !xun language is only spoken by a few thousand people and is not politically recognized as an official language, the language is endangered. The film addresses the relationship between oral history, different forms of storytelling, and maintaining and protecting the !xun language.

screenings

Symposium Om te behoort, University of Amsterdam in collaboration with Gent University and Zuid-Afrikahuis, Amsterdam (2021); Symposium On Words and Music, SOAS University of London, 2019; Prospects & Concepts, Art Rotterdam, Van Nelle Fabriek, (2018); Language is the only homeland, Nest, The Hague, 2018; The Dream of a Common Language, Lumen Travo, Amsterdam (2018).

Installation of Kulimatji during the exhibition Language is the only homeland (2018) at Nest, The Hague, curated by Manon Braat, language expert Simone Zeefuik. Other participating artists: Parastou Forouhar, Newell Harry, Marcel Pinas, Moffat Takadiwa and Tintin Wulia.
Photo credit: Jhoekho photography

CREDITS

Director: Judith Westerveld
Cinematography: Judith Westerveld & Tijs de Bie
Editor: Judith Westerveld
Sound: Judith Westerveld
Featuring: Kapilolo Mahongo, Baka Jashula aka Obrigado, Judith Westerveld

Sources: Kapilolo’s Kulimatji, A !xun San storyteller’s memoir, Manyeka Books, Manyeka Arts Trust, 2016. www.manyeka.co.za

Translations: The stories and radio fragments in !xun were translated to Afrikaans by Kapilolo Mahongo and Baka Jashula. All translations from Afrikaans to English were done by Judith Westerveld and Tijs de Bie.

Thank you to the late Kapilolo Mahongo and his family, Baka Jashuala aka Obrigado and his family, Marlene Sullivan Winberg, the Manyeka Arts Trust, X-K FM radio in Platfontein and its staff Regina Beregho, Malton Edburg and Elemia Ridgeley.

In loving memory of Kapilolo Mahongo 1952 - 2018.

Realised with support of the Mondriaan Fonds, www.mondriaanfonds.nl
Distributed by LIMA www.li-ma.nl

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