Art Lexica's One Year Birthday

Wesley announces plans for the Artwork give-away to mark his 52nd episode. This week, he chats to Cape Town based author Lerato Lerry Scribess Sibanda about the recent National Arts Council sit in. This is our 52nd episode, meaning we've been running this podcast for exactly one year! Born out of lockdown, it remains one of Wesley's most successful project's since 2020. This is a podcast where we talk art and art processes. So check us out wherever you get your podcasts!

Disclaimer: The views expressed do not reflect those of baobulb.org

Transcript

Wesley: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. This is Wesley pepper and you're tuned to my podcast wesley pepper’s art Lexica and its brought to you by Spudcaster and baobulb. Yeah, man. Thanks for everybody for tuning in. If you're in the Southern part of.. if you’re in South Africa or the Southern part of the hemisphere, we are entering winter now and it's pretty chilly where I'm sitting and, uh, yeah.

[00:00:35] So just bear with me. I might have a dripping nose and a Cough and winter related nonsense. So yeah, just bear with me regarding that. And then there also might be some unfortunate noise in the background, but , you can, yeah. 

[00:00:49] Anyway. Yeah. Just bear with me, please. For today. It won't 

[00:00:52] be too distracting though, but they will be something anyway, moving on to, um, to recap last week's episode, thanks to violette for coming through.

[00:00:59] Um, and the book, Mulberry dreams, all the best with that, my sister. I really, really had fun talking to and talking to about all those, about the book and process and all of that I thought was really outstanding content. Uh, moving on to today's episode, uh, today we're talking to Lerato, uh, Sibanda, 

[00:01:16] she's originally 

[00:01:17] from, um, Pretoria, but she's now in Cape town.

[00:01:21] She's a multi-disciplinary, 

[00:01:23] uh, artists, but she's mostly in the writing field. So she does a lot of poetry. Actually. I know her through the poetry and the journalism route through working through consciousness, that's you, that's it. 

[00:01:33] And we'll touch we'll. Um, we'll actually 

[00:01:34] touch base, um, with touch on that as well.

[00:01:37] In what she, um, in, in her writing and all the work that she did for consciousness, um, as you guys know, I've been working with them for, or rather I've been involved with them for 

[00:01:47] the better part of 15, 16 years. So it's been awhile, 

[00:01:50] it's been awhile and we still, and we still around, 

[00:01:52] we still alive. So yeah, man, it's still consciousness.

[00:01:54] Let's see what I'd say. Uh, yeah, you can still check it out. So we'll definitely touch 

[00:01:58] base with all that. Talk about 

[00:01:59] her writing processes and given that, um, um, that was the papers. Art later is almost a year old. Um, 

[00:02:05] with the recording of this episode, we'll touch base on some 

[00:02:07] about, uh, major themes, um, that I have, you know, that I spoke about throughout the, um, throughout the past 52 weeks, you know?

[00:02:16] Uh, so we’re gonna touch base get Lerato’s, uh, opinion on some of the things like the tech boom, uh, the NAC sit-in and so on, but that will be the latter part of the interview. We're gonna be focusing on her. Uh, writing. I know she's, um, I've been listening to a YouTube channel, uh, 

[00:02:34] over the past week.

[00:02:35] So she's been doing a lot of singing, which is really fantastic. She's got quite an interesting, I think, quite a 

[00:02:40] smooth, uh, voice. So we're going to be seeing what direction she's planning to go with that and her journalism of course. Um, she'd like, as I said, she did some interesting work for us on consciousness and, um, Yeah.

[00:02:52] So she's a very smart sister as well. So when we covering the A to Z on her processes and who she is as a human being and as an artist and so on. And, um, yeah, I guess as you guys know, um, you know, the podcast is a year old and, um, I'm doing my giveaway. So finally we are there. We know we're going to, we are going to be doing an art giveaway.

[00:03:11] I'm gonna be giving away one of my art pieces. So stay tuned for that, uh, towards the, um, at the outro, um, explaining how you guys go about doing it. It’s going to be real simple, real simple. And, um, this giveaway for now is open to South 

[00:03:27] African audiences, mostly because I think it's kind of out of my own pocket and for me to send the work 

[00:03:32] Wesley: [00:03:32] to the likes of Ireland or the USA ja well with COVID

[00:03:37] and all of these things ja, uh, this thing is for now only just for the South African-based listeners. But I'll explain to you guys how to go about doing it towards the end of the episode. So stay tuned for that. And, uh, yeah, man, I hope you guys enjoy today's episode. I certainly am. I know, I know Lerato is a bundle of energy.

[00:03:54] Uh, 

[00:03:56] Yeah, lots and lots. Lots of energy, lots of, uh, of vibrant. You got a very vibrant personality. 

[00:04:01] So, so, so yeah, that's going to be, that's going to be really interesting 

[00:04:04] and see what she's been up to. So stay tuned for that. And yeah, man, 

[00:04:08] Wesley: [00:04:08] uh, I hope you guys are safe wherever you guys are and to all the new listeners and current listeners it's been a year.

[00:04:15] So 

[00:04:15] if you listen to this, you most 

[00:04:17] Wesley: [00:04:17] probably listened to more than one of my episodes. So I'm very, very grateful for that. And, um, yeah, man, I'm going to be giving back to all of the listeners from now on, you know, these free giveaway, something I wanna do consistently. Um, probably like once a month type of thing, and as an, a range from books to, um, probably music as well, um, type of thing, but stay tuned for that.

[00:04:37] And you can see all, you can get what you want to find more information on that you can always find that on my social media pages and I'll be giving away my social media handles at the end of the episode. So stay tuned for that guys. And I'll chat to you 

[00:04:47] after 

[00:04:48] this. 

[00:04:49] Spudcaster: [00:04:49] Baobulb.org is a podcasting platform and a medium for storytelling.

[00:04:55] This podcast is also available on all the major podcasting apps, including apple and Google podcasts, podcasts, your life with baobulb.org. 

[00:05:07] Wesley: [00:05:07] Okay. So we are live, uh, with Lerato Sibanda, uh, all the way from, from Cape town. Um, but like we were chatting yesterday. You say you're not a kaapenaar yet. And, um, well, I think that's a good thing.

[00:05:24] Um, yeah, because as you know, um, there's always a bit of a, I dunno, Cape town folks, not that I'm dissing Cape town people, but, um, yeah. They different. 

[00:05:39] Lerato: [00:05:39] They are totally different and I’ll vouch for that. 

[00:05:45] Wesley: [00:05:45] They are, they are. So, uh, let's, let's get straight into it, man. Um, in my intro, I introduced you as a, um, as a multidisciplinary artists whose focus is mostly on the writing.

[00:05:58] Um, I got to know you through working with consciousness.co.za and you are one of our, one of the contributors. Um, I know you did a whole lot of writing. I know you also a very good poet. Um, I know you're a vocalist. I've been listening to your YouTube channel. Um, I've been listening to your yeah, I've been, um, yeah, man.

[00:06:20] So I've actually, I didn't know you were much of a, of like a vocal of a singer. I was more schooled on your, on your, on your poetry and your, and your journalism. So just for my listeners, right? Can you just give us a, agh man can you just gooi us, like who you are, uh, where you from, and 

[00:06:39] Wesley: [00:06:39] that type of thing

[00:06:41] Lerato: [00:06:41] Lerato Sibanda

[00:06:41] is from Pretoria. Born. Bred and Buttered. I would say the capital city and I grew up mostly in, on the periphery, but I was schooled in the city. So I always had this polarity of upbringing township and city township and city. And yes, you're right spot on I’m a writer first and foremost is how I describe myself.

[00:07:16] Um, And then I entered into this fear of the urban culture through consciousness. As you mentioned straight from Tukkies. Um, I was, I did a BA BA languages specialise in English, uh, for my undergrad. And then I specialised in cultural and media. So those are my interests areas and then I met Karabo believe it or not, I'm at a underground hip hop gig in [indistinct].

[00:07:52] Sure. And counter culture and pop culture has always been kind of my vibe, you know, and in meeting Karabo he was just looking for somebody to partner with, um, in terms of the editorial content of consciousness, he needed like somebody who would, you know, uh, uh, help him with the proofing and

[00:08:15] the subbing of the stories would also help him, um, scout talent. And so he basically pushed to me to be an editor, but for some reason we never quite formalised it. It was almost like this, an agreement between the him and more on a pro bono basis. So I wasn’t just a contributor for consciousness, I was also very much one of the brand strategists as well.

[00:08:47] And I don't know if you remember, we had, um, we relaunched consciousness in, in 2010 and it was my idea. I sat down and I bought it out and basically I was like the events planner,

[00:09:06] um, when I worked for consciousness it was writing, but it also was more about cultural activation, you know, amongst people and just basically building African pride and consciousness through the art space. But yeah. If somebody asks me who is Lerato, usually I just tell them I’m just a writer. 

[00:09:32] Wesley: [00:09:32] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I'm glad you, I'm glad you touched base on the whole consciousness, uh, your involvement there.

[00:09:40] Cause I was going to start off or I was going to move in that direction. So, um, yeah, just for my listeners. 

[00:09:47] Lerato: [00:09:47] I don't know if people know that Wes. The Wes. Wesley Pepper

[00:09:56] Yeah. Like it was just a collective of interesting, burgeoning minds people who, you know, artistic, but also revolutionary, I would say in consciousness. And I guess so, cause for some reason we just sort of gravitated towards one another. I gravitated towards Karabo. And I know you’d be one of the people. Karabo, we’d 

[00:10:21] be hanging out at his place, you know? And he’d go “yo there’s this guy called Wesley! Joh that guy’s mind”. I remember one time he said we spoke for like hours last night. And I was like who’s this cat, you know?

[00:10:41] Wesley: [00:10:41] Wow. Geez. I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I don't know what to say. Thank you. Uh, yeah. Geez. Wow. Thank you. Uh, actually I wanted to jump up on that, like, um, just for our listeners, I would explain my involvement with consciousness, uh, stretches back to 2009. Was it 2008 or something like that? Or was it even before that?

[00:11:02] It was, it was a while back because I started just giving, uh, Karabo, uh, artwork, you know, say, Hey man, I'm an artist. Boom, boom, boom, boom. And, uh, we became friends and um, long story, long story is like almost 15 years. It's more than 15. Yeah. Yeah. It's it, it it's, it's been one of the, one of the most, uh, outstanding, um, Um, thinking about consciousness as like, when it was, when, when, uh, when Karabo launched it and we went mainstream, it also included like Vangie yourself, uh, Khaya, others Matthew.

[00:11:33] I mean, these are really, really great talent. I mean, like very, very talented people.        Lerato: And Wesley Pepper

[00:11:43] Wesley: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. There was another guy somewhere and, um, we still, um, we still around like, we’ve outlived everybody, uh, because as you know, like the internet has evolved and, and, and, and our, we consume content has evolved. I know social media played a huge ass role in that as well. Uh, so, but consciousness still exists.

[00:12:03] Like, um, I still look at the stats every now and again, and we still getting like over a hundred hits a day. So, uh, not every single day, but like we still average, which is, which is outstanding, which is outstanding. So, yeah, that was just for my listeners just to give them more context. Um, so. so, uh, yeah. So you were saying you were there from, from an editorial perspective, you are, uh, also helped with the content.

[00:12:27] Uh, yeah, man, what type of a content were you supply or were, um, you creating, you know, what type of stuff are you editing? 

[00:12:37] Lerato: [00:12:37] Um, mostly, mostly I would say opinion, editorials around heritage, heritage, African history, you know, the rewriting of African history. Also just recounting, um, recounting, just different stories from the continent.

[00:12:58] about timbuktu the museum in timbuktu also just talking about clans. African clans. So that's mostly, mostly around heritage and history and then we became more political as time went on.

[00:13:22]  Wesley: [00:13:22] I want to, I want to get to that. 

[00:13:24] Lerato: [00:13:24] Yeah, I get the more that we're coming together, having conversations, being informed the outselves, I mean, it's very important to mention that when we became a collective, we were mostly students, you know, so obviously we also engage in what w what we're being taught at school, you know, but as we were talking and sharing about stuff and we were also reading.

[00:13:50] I remember Karabo had encouraged that at a point, then listen, whatever books that you guys are reading, how about we, like you guys drop them at my place. I mean, So we'll almost be like an in-house library will always, you know, circulate. I mean, and you know I think of us like [indistinct] we were like a whole different kind of people because here you are about 22/23 reading deep stuff.

[00:14:18] Wesley: [00:14:18] Yeah.

[00:14:28] Lerato: [00:14:28] And then someway somehow I became more politically, uh, conscientised how, um, I think Khaya played a huge role in that, always

[00:14:39] engaging what is happening, you know? And that got me wanting to start to write opinion, editorials that were more political and as God would have it, or other people would say the universe. Um, I, I thought I wanted a job in industry cause I just finished my honours and, um, independent newspapers was looking for 15, 15 young people from the country, you know, from all the provinces to train for the newsrooms.

[00:15:18] Um, this is for mainstream news, you know, and I applied for that, I got into that. So once I got into mainstream traditional journalism, I became more and more. 

[00:15:35] Wesley: [00:15:35] So, um, explain to, because, because you mentioned becoming political probably three times now and, um, clearly it's, it was, 

[00:15:41] uh,

[00:15:44] So, um, yeah, this platform is not really a political platform, but you know, I mean like specific like ANC EFF type of thing, like, no, no, no, no, no, but, uh, what, what, uh, what should I say resonates heavy. 

[00:15:57] And, um, 

[00:15:58] for the listeners explain to us, like, when you say, uh, because being politicised or. Yeah.

[00:16:04] Politicise means different things to different people, um, and different people exercise it differently. So what I'm asking is how did you, how were you, or, or rather than which, uh, uh, direction were you politicised because, you know, we were Pan-Africanist. Um, and, um, you know, like you're saying with the history,

[00:16:24] that's something in me personally, I'm also very passionate about and, um, that has definitely shaped, uh, African history has definitely shaped my, um, 

[00:16:33] my direction, my creative 

[00:16:34] direction and my processes in how I create art. Um, and I want to get to that too, but later about like, um, how did you, in what direction did the politics sort of shape you, man?

[00:16:45] And, uh, when it did shape you, how did you decide or rather, what was it that decided? Okay, yo, I wanna write up about this. So why did you want to write up about it? 

[00:16:55] Lerato: [00:16:55] Yeah. Mentioning that there's different kind of, you know, um, political consciousness. I'm not, I'm not a conventional one in the sense that I see myself more as an, as a commentator, even with my poetry.

[00:17:12] Um, and even with my singing, actually, you know, I see myself as more of a commentator on the peripheries of things. For example, I am not an avid follower of any political party. Of course when I, when it's time I vote, but I'm not, I'm not, I'm not signed up to any. Um, so I would say as social political commentator, I came up out of the ground, you know?

[00:17:42] Um, so it's more advocacy. My, my, my drive and my, the processes in which I write my poetry is more to advocate, you know, for the marginalised that, for those who do not have a voice, you know, And where this comes from, I would say that it started with my honours program. Because I’d been reading alot about.

[00:18:06] And I guess I'm going to repeat this a lot because that's a really pivotal role in who I am in, in, in, in my art as well. So reading a lot about African history and African writers, such as Chinua Achebe

[00:18:28] uh, Homi Bhabha, you know, and I was blown away. And this was like

[00:18:33] in my honours level. And even in my undergrad, I was like, what in the world? I never knew that this is what Africa is. And I didn’t know that there was so much uncut, um, beauty

[00:18:50] to, to this continent, you know? So I think that sort of really convicted me that with the knowledge that I had gained from my studies with the talent that you’d much rather use that to, you know, just to enlighten myself and my people and people from the continent about the beauty that we have that has not been documented. And unfortunately you do not in your education

[00:19:21] all the way from primary school to varsity, so I'm more of a social political person rather than, um, you know, wanting, you know, advocating for whatever in that sense. I'm on the other side a moment I would say. Yeah. 

[00:19:46] Wesley: [00:19:46] Yeah. Um, I'd like to, I'd like to come in there real quick, just give a comment. Um, I hear exactly what you're saying.

[00:19:51] And personally, I believe that the role you playing, um, and I know there’s others that got, um, politicised similarly. I think those are very, very important given that, uh, the age and COVID has just exploded the thing and made it even more complex is now we're living in this, you know, the information age, but there's so much information out...