Cultural relations between Switzerland and South Africa, 1948–1994

The relationship between Switzerland and South Africa has been the object of extensive research over the past two decades. However, the focus has until now been on the role that Swiss business and politics played as enablers for the apartheid state. A research project running from 2019 to 2023 at the Hochschule der Künste Bern HKB, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), has aimed instead to shed light on cultural relations between the two countries from the beginnings of apartheid in 1948 through to the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994. To conclude this project, the Hochschule der Künste Bern will be holding a conference from Wednesday 3 May to Friday 5 May 2023 in Basel in Switzerland, hosted by the Basler Afrika Bibliographien in collaboration with the Centre for African Studies Basel and Africa Open Institute of the University of Stellenbosch, and funded by the SNSF.

Photo: The Dollar Brand Trio, St. Gallen 1962 (© Richard Butz)

Programm Tuesday, 2 May 2023 Bird’s Eye Club, Kohlenberg 20, Basel 20:30 Jazz concert: Swiss-South African Jazz Indaba First Set: Plurism – Intlanganiso. Feya Faku, trumpet/flugel horn; Mthunzi Mvubu, alto sax; Sisonke Xonti, tenor sax; Raffaele Bosshard, bass; Dominic Egli, drums/percussion 21:45 Second Set: Mthunzi Mvubu Quartet. Mthunzi Mvubu, alto sax; Keenan Ahrends, guitar; Romy Brauteseth, bass; Sphelelo Mazibuko, drums Wednesday, 3 May 2023 Basler Afrika Bibliographien, Klosterberg 23, Basel 09:30 Welcome Christian Vandersee (BAB), Veit Arlt (UniBas), Martin Skamletz (HKB) 09:45 Georg Kreis (University of Basel) Introduction: Switzerland and South Africa: The History of National Research Programme 42+ 10:00 Chris Walton (Bern Academy of the Arts) Switzerland and South Africa: A History of Cultural Relations 10:40 Coffee 11:10 Chats Devroop (Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria) Shalati’s Swiss Sojourn: The Studies of SJ Khosa in Lausanne 11:50 BAB Archive team (Basler Afrika Bibliographien) “Solidarity”: Glimpses from the Entangled Archives 12:30 Lunch 14:00 Thomas Patrick Chapman (ETH Zurich) Urban Design Culture: The Swiss Architect Max Kirchhofer in Apartheid South Africa 14:40 Denise Bertschi (EPFL, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Arts of Sciences Laboratory) “Please Ensure the Gate is Properly Closed”:Questioning the Swiss Presence in Apartheid South Africa Through the Swiss Social Club in Cape Town 15:20 Tea 15:40 Richard Butz (St. Gallen) When South African Jazz came to Switzerland: Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim), Chris McGregor & The Blue Notes, Joe Malinga 16:20 Atiyyah Khan (Cape Town) A Surprising Friendship: Looking at the Ongoing Collaborations in Jazz Between South African and Swiss Jazz Musicians Through a Post- Apartheid Lens up to the Present Day Bird’s Eye Club, Kohlenberg 20, Basel 20:30 Jazz concert: Swiss-South African Jazz Indaba First Set: Feya Faku Quintet. Feya Faku, trumpet/flugelhorn; Sisonke Xonti, tenor sax; Keenan Ahrends, guitar; Romy Brauteseth, bass; Dominic Egli, drums / special guest Makaya Ntshoko 21:45 Second Set: Plurism – Intlanganiso. Feya Faku, trumpet/flugelhorn; Mthunzi Mvubu, alto sax; Sisonke Xonti, tenor sax; Raffaele Bosshard, bass; Dominic Egli, drums/percussion Thursday, 4 May 2023 Basler Afrika Bibliographien, Klosterberg 23, Basel 9:30 Jasper Walgrave (Bern Academy of the Arts) The Swiss Representation of South African Culture through Literature: The Case of Peter Sulzer 10:10 Astrid Starck-Adler (University of Basel) & Dag Henrichsen (Basler Afrika Bibliographien) “Europe’s Tribal Wars”: Lewis Nkosi 10:50 Coffee 11:20 Paula Fourie (Africa Open Institute, Stellenbosch University) “Ek wit, opdat ons n sneeuwit Andorra het, julle moordenaars”: Max Frisch’s Andorra as Afrikaans Protest Theatre 12:00 Lunch 14:00 Steff Rohrbach (Bern Academy of the Arts) The Cafe Africana in Zurich 14:40 Lineo Segoete (Maseru) The Ignorant Schoolmaster: The Swiss Missionary Edouard Jacottet and the Sesotho Language 15:20 Tea 15:40 Féroll-Jon Davids (Africa Open Institute, Stellenbosch University) “‘Coloured’ Nature... Isn’t that Easy to Shake Off”: Gordon Jephtas in Switzerland 16:20 Hilde Roos (Africa Open Institute, Stellenbosch University) The Zurich Opera House: Enabling South Africans in the Opera Industry During Apartheid 17:00 Book launch, with apéritif “Sorry. I Am what I Am.” The Life and Letters of the South African Pianist and Opera Coach Gordon Jephtas (1943–92), ed. by Hilde Roos, F.J. Davids, Chris Walton. Basel: BAB publishing house Friday, 5 May 2023 Basler Afrika Bibliographien, Klosterberg 23, Basel 09:30 Annemie Behr (University of South Africa, Pretoria) The Hans Adler Collection: Swiss Musicians on Tour in Apartheid South Africa 10:10 Stephanus Muller & Willemien Froneman (Africa Open Institute, Stellenbosch University) Singing Cowboys and Alpine Goat Herds: The Passaggio of Nature to Culture in Afrikaans Yodelling 10:50 Coffee 11:10 Roundtable discussion 12:00 End of the Conference Farewell Lunch in Restaurant Anatolia, Barfüsserplatz Basel