Nashilongweshipwe Mushaandja is a performer, educator and writer with practice-research interests in performance, archives and public culture. He is currently completing his PhD research work at the University of Cape Town, with a thesis on Oudano, an African concept of performance. This study looks at how Oudano mobilizes queer praxis, sonic and movement formation as well as critical pedagogies and spatialities.

Mushaandja’s work has been performed widely at festivals, museums, theatres and archives in Germany, Switzerland, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Cameroon and Namibia. Previous records of Mushaandja’s performance work as Tschuku Tschuku include Black Bantu Child (2012) and Trance !Namib Freedom Station (2017). The latest Tschuku record Ondaanisa yo pOmudhime was released in September 2021 and is available on all online platforms and on CD. Mushaandja’s latest performance project is ZILIN: for the first and future African sonic stars was premiered in 2021 at the National Arts Festival (Makhanda, South Africa) and Zürcher Theater Spektakel (Zurich, Switzerland) where it was awarded the ZKB Public Choice Award.

He is also engaged in curatorial and research leadership in his work as a co-convener of the annual Owela Theatre and Performance Seminar at Odalate Naiteke Practice-as-Research Programme in collaboration with the National Theatre of Namibia. This also includes his work as UNESCO National Expert on the Intellectual Property and Local Content (IPLC) advocacy programme. 

Last Modified: Mon, 07 Mar 2022 10:32:59 SAST