As part of a Global Innovation Funded project at UWT, I am writing to invite you to an informal and intimate performance on Monday, August 7th at 7:30 pm of Kwere, Kwere by Dr. Nashilongweshipwe Mushaandja, a researcher and performance artist we are hosting Namibia. KWERE KWERE is a physical theatre and live performance that assembles sound archival material and improvisational mime to appropriate African migrant and queer struggles, as a way of working across difference. This work was initially developed at the Khoj International Artists Association in New Delhi, India, as part of the 2022 Live Art Workshop. The performance particularly draws on migrant labourer’s music in the 1950s and 1960s in Southern Africa, currently archived at the International Library of African Music in Makhanda, South Africa. These colonial archives are interfaced with indigenous practices of drumming and masking such as the Makisi. In this performance, reed skirts, shakers, drums and masks are mobilised to signify a returning to the source, a reclaiming of both African and queer spirit. Still photo froam past performance is attached and and read more about the performance here https://khojstudios.org/project/kwere-kwere/ The performance will be in the Studio Theater space in Cherry Parkes, Room 007 (basement level of Cherry Parkes, adjacent to Indochine. Campus map here: https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/campus-map) The performance will last about 30 – 40 minutes, with opportunities for questions and discussions with the artist afterwards. There are no tickets and no fees to attend, however seating is limited to around 50 people. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Michael Kula at mkula@uw.edu. Please also do share this announcement with anyone you think might be interested.