Imiphindo kwaXhosa

Siviwe James
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  • FASHION & BEAUTY

UN/FOLDING_RE/FOLDING_FOLDED: Imiphindo kwaXhosa is a practice-led podcast project by Siviwe James that unfolds as a sonic archive and a site of return. Through a series of intimate audio-visual encounters, the podcast explores the fold as both method and metaphor in African fashion—inviting listeners into the sensory, spiritual, and social lives of garments, rituals, and everyday cultural gestures. The project is supported by the African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International.

  1. MAY 20

    Ukusonga

    Xa sithetha ngemigobo/imigoqo, sithetha ngantoni? Sigoba ntoni? Kuvele ntoni? What is bent when we speak of imigoqo? What surfaces when we turn, twist, or fold? This episode dwells in the curves and contours of isiXhosa life—its gestures, refusals, rituals, and dress codes. Through sound, memory, and movement, we enter the layered world of imiphindo, where the fold is not only a form but a practice of returning, refiguring, and refusing reduction. Here, isiXhosa is not translated—it is lived, voiced, and held with care. The episode privileges a listening practice that is attuned to cadence, silence, and tone, treating language as a tactile and spiritual terrain. We are invited into a space where knowledge is not explained but demonstrated: through the wrapping of cloth, the structuring of speech, the choreography of everyday life. Imiphindo kwaXhosa affirms the sonic and visual worlds of amaXhosa without apology. It is a bold articulation of interwoven languages, systems, and people. Rather than offering a “view from above,” this podcast honours the everyday as archive, and positioning cultural practice as theory in motion. CLOSING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Narrating Voices Mr Mangaliso Jafta Azola Krweqe Ms Nobuhle James Mrs Nokhaya Jilingisa Mama Phakani Zizo Ntukushe Visual & Video Contributors Azola Krweqe Sibabalwe Makeleni Community Contributors The James Family – ooXaba Mrs Kutazwa James Mrs Nokugcina James (special thanks for the recording of umsebenzi kaMnu. Luphumlo James) Mrs Ludidi Ms Phumla James Ms Nobuhle James Willowvale Makers Co-op Kholiswa Magidi Theko Theo Yinindwa Philiswa Matutu Nwabisa Mahlaleshushu Miranda Siwlabeni Youth Participants Zintle Bonakele Vuyokazi Mncono Lethu Jilingisi Nokubonga Hawu Lisakhanya Poni Yolande Tskane Liyabona Ntshobodwana Buyiswa Beauty Nduwe Community yakuGatyana Cebisa Magoqoza Mzukisi Nketshu Thando Madwantsi Thobile Tsutsu Sikelela Thobigunya Neliswa Bambintala Miranda Sihlangu And the broader community at large Special thanks to: Azola Krweqe Lukhanyo Muluse Locations Referenced Willowvale Arts Center, kuGatyane James Family Home – Elukhanyisweni, eQumbu, eMdeni Mr & Mrs James’ Residence – Highbury, Umtata James Residence – Walmer Road Lodge, Beacon Bay, East London Ngumla Family Home – eGcibala, Tsomo Mpintsha Family Home – Nkanga, Willowvale Buffalo City Municipality Production Team Executive Producer: Bongani Tau Curator & Editor: Siviwe James Content Advisor: Sihle Sogaula Graphic Design: 2DOTS Space Agency Video & Sound Editing: Siviwe James Text: Siviwe James Xhosa Language Advisor: Ms Nobuhle James Digital Archiving Support Art Meets App Institutional Support Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Arts and Culture UN/FOLDING_RE/FOLDING_FOLDED: Imiphindo kwaXhosa © 2023 Created and produced by Siviwe James (James-Laurie) With support from the African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) and Creative Nestlings Foundation, under the New Narratives Programme (2023). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

    1 min
  2. Bonus: Incoko nomboniso kuGatyana

    12/06/2023

    Bonus: Incoko nomboniso kuGatyana

    On 25 August 2023, the UN/FOLDING_RE/FOLDING_FOLDED: Imiphindo kwaXhosa production team returned kuGatyana to host a listening session with the podcast’s co-authors and their community. What began as a simple gesture of return became a deeply felt gathering — an act of sonic repair and collective affirmation. The day reminded us that the most powerful forms of cultural work are not just heard, but held, felt, and shared. Guided by Willowvale Arts Center (W.A.C) Manager Lukhanyo Muluse and curator Azola Krweqe, the session reignited a shared sense of purpose and underscored W.A.C’s role as a site of cultural anchoring and intergenerational exchange. Since its founding in 2008 by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, W.A.C has provided artists and thinkers in Mbhashe Municipality with space to gather, imagine, and grow creative economies rooted in place and people. Opening the day, Mama Phakani led with a prayer — not as performance, but as portal. Her voice, spirit, and presence grounded the gathering in ubuntu, creating a space where ancestors, elders, and youth could all breathe, listen, and be listened to. Reflecting on the moment, Lukhanyo shared: “The contemporary art scene in South Africa is not easy to navigate — it’s filled with inequalities that leave Black and marginalized people on the outskirts. This is felt tenfold at the Centre, which exists within a community that faces inadequate service delivery, minimal support from those in power, and rural development that often sidelines arts and culture. Even though these challenges are part of our everyday, we must keep pushing and doing the work we are called to do. Engaging with the podcast reminded us of this necessary work.” These words affirm that Imiphindo kwaXhosa does more than produce listenable content — it restores and regenerates cultural energy, filling gaps in our archives and reweaving the fabric of shared knowledge. Held with care, sound can return us to ourselves. CLOSING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Narrating Voices Mr Mangaliso Jafta Azola Krweqe Ms Nobuhle James Mrs Nokhaya Jilingisa Mama Phakani Zizo Ntukushe Visual & Video Contributors Azola Krweqe Sibabalwe Makeleni Community Contributors The James Family – ooXaba Mrs Kutazwa James Mrs Nokugcina James (special thanks for the recording of umsebenzi kaMnu. Luphumlo James) Mrs Ludidi Ms Phumla James Ms Nobuhle James Willowvale Makers Co-op Kholiswa Magidi Theko Theo Yinindwa Philiswa Matutu Nwabisa Mahlaleshushu Miranda Siwlabeni Youth Participants Zintle Bonakele Vuyokazi Mncono Lethu Jilingisi Nokubonga Hawu Lisakhanya Poni Yolande Tskane Liyabona Ntshobodwana Buyiswa Beauty Nduwe Community yakuGatyana Cebisa Magoqoza Mzukisi Nketshu Thando Madwantsi Thobile Tsutsu Sikelela Thobigunya Neliswa Bambintala Miranda Sihlangu And the broader community at large Special thanks to: Azola Krweqe Lukhanyo Muluse Locations Referenced Willowvale Arts Center, kuGatyane James Family Home – Elukhanyisweni, eQumbu, eMdeni Mr & Mrs James’ Residence – Highbury, Umtata James Residence – Walmer Road Lodge, Beacon Bay, East London Ngumla Family Home – eGcibala, Tsomo Mpintsha Family Home – Nkanga, Willowvale Buffalo City Municipality Production Team Executive Producer: Bongani Tau Curator & Editor: Siviwe James Content Advisor: Sihle Sogaula Graphic Design: 2DOTS Space Agency Video & Sound Editing: Siviwe James Text: Siviwe James Xhosa Language Advisor: Ms Nobuhle James Digital Archiving Support Art Meets App Institutional Support Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Arts and Culture UN/FOLDING_RE/FOLDING_FOLDED: Imiphindo kwaXhosa © 2023 Created and produced by Siviwe James (James-Laurie) With support from the African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) and Creative Nestlings Foundation, under the New Narratives Programme (2023). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

    2 min
  3. Episode 10: Inkcubeko Yakwantu

    10/09/2023

    Episode 10: Inkcubeko Yakwantu

    In this episode, we spend time with uAzola Krweqe, a curator and visual practitioner whose work spans Cape Town and her paternal home in Nkanga, Willowvale. Through her photographic inquiries, Azola explores how her subjects choose to be seen, inviting us to consider the power and freedom inherent in visibility. Her return home has nurtured a deepening relationship with her culture and ancestral practices—connections often obscured when living in urban spaces. Through Azola’s personal story, we are invited to reimagine isintu as a vital foundation for black practitioners’ thinking and creative expression. Inkcubeko Yakwantu extends from Azola’s research and development project that began during her time with curator and British Council consultant Cindy Sissokho at the 2022 Venice Biennale. Provoked by questions around representation, Azola’s project explores how young curators can creatively address local challenges, especially in rural and remote contexts like Willowvale. Based in kuGatyana, the project actively involves Makers from the Willowvale Arts Centre and draws deeply on indigenous knowledge and intuitive processes to guide its experimentation. Central to Inkcubeko Yakwantu are intergenerational conversations between young and old—dialogues that open pathways toward a more compassionate, self-empowered future. Azola reflects, “It is my hope that this project will contribute towards rural development in South Africa by challenging the problematic representations of those living in rural areas that have been historically enforced through colonialism and western thought, and that continue to exist in the now. I am excited by the prospects of supporting and developing sustainable art and culture spaces/activities ezilalini.” As one of our community co-authors, Azola offers a fresh, vital lens into the value of ilali—reminding us how place and cultural memory inform the contemporary Maker and Thinker. CLOSING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Narrating Voices Mr Mangaliso Jafta Azola Krweqe Ms Nobuhle James Mrs Nokhaya Jilingisa Mama Phakani Zizo Ntukushe Visual & Video Contributors Azola Krweqe Sibabalwe Makeleni Community Contributors The James Family – ooXaba Mrs Kutazwa James Mrs Nokugcina James (special thanks for the recording of umsebenzi kaMnu. Luphumlo James) Mrs Ludidi Ms Phumla James Ms Nobuhle James Willowvale Makers Co-op Kholiswa Magidi Theko Theo Yinindwa Philiswa Matutu Nwabisa Mahlaleshushu Miranda Siwlabeni Youth Participants Zintle Bonakele Vuyokazi Mncono Lethu Jilingisi Nokubonga Hawu Lisakhanya Poni Yolande Tskane Liyabona Ntshobodwana Buyiswa Beauty Nduwe Community yakuGatyana Cebisa Magoqoza Mzukisi Nketshu Thando Madwantsi Thobile Tsutsu Sikelela Thobigunya Neliswa Bambintala Miranda Sihlangu And the broader community at large Special thanks to: Azola Krweqe Lukhanyo Muluse Locations Referenced Willowvale Arts Center, kuGatyane James Family Home – Elukhanyisweni, eQumbu, eMdeni Mr & Mrs James’ Residence – Highbury, Umtata James Residence – Walmer Road Lodge, Beacon Bay, East London Ngumla Family Home – eGcibala, Tsomo Mpintsha Family Home – Nkanga, Willowvale Buffalo City Municipality Production Team Executive Producer: Bongani Tau Curator & Editor: Siviwe James Content Advisor: Sihle Sogaula Graphic Design: 2DOTS Space Agency Video & Sound Editing: Siviwe James Text: Siviwe James Xhosa Language Advisor: Ms Nobuhle James Digital Archiving Support Art Meets App Institutional Support Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Arts and Culture UN/FOLDING_RE/FOLDING_FOLDED: Imiphindo kwaXhosa © 2023 Created and produced by Siviwe James (James-Laurie) With support from the African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) and Creative Nestlings Foundation, under the New Narratives Programme (2023). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

    9 min
  4. Episode 9: UN/Folding at the Willowvale Arts Center (W.A.C)

    10/09/2023

    Episode 9: UN/Folding at the Willowvale Arts Center (W.A.C)

    The Willowvale Arts Center is a creative hub located onthe outskirts of the remote town of Willowvale. Established in 2008 by the Department of Sports, Arts and culture, the uniquely designed building is the host site for creatives kuGatyana (Willowvale) and Mbhashe Municipality at large, where many come to learn about and explore innovative methods that can aid them in growing in the local creative economy in the Eastern Cape. The center (W.A.C) functions as an inclusive space for the community to meet at, share and hold (archive) important cultural dialogues/stories/performances as means of engaging with cultural heritage in new, contemporary and dynamic ways for all practitioners/thinkers from the local area. By placing Imiphindo kwaXhosa in this local creative hub, the podcast was able to tap into the minds and practises of local Makers/Thinkers who tend to be left out of critical reflections on cultural practises. These practioners who are often referred to as 'ooMama noTata bethu' are the threads that hold the deeper lineal meanings of dress, ritual, design and the everyday in tact. By investing in local hubs and the Makers/Thinkers located here, we hope to offer these voices new audiences who will come to recognise and value their critical reflections on culture and the act of 'being' kwaXhosa. The act of (un)folding at W.A.C mirrors the ongoing process of cultural becoming—where heritage is not fixed but continuously revealed, reworked, and made new through collective memory and creative practice. This (un)folding embraces both continuity and rupture, holding space for ancestral knowledge and present-day innovation to coexist, ensuring that kwaXhosa ways of being remain vibrant and responsive to contemporary realities. "Ukufihla akuyi kuba kukungena, kodwa kukuvula—ukuvula iingcambu ezibambekayo, nokuvula iindlela ezintsha." CLOSING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Narrating Voices Mr Mangaliso Jafta Azola Krweqe Ms Nobuhle James Mrs Nokhaya Jilingisa Mama Phakani Zizo Ntukushe Visual & Video Contributors Azola Krweqe Sibabalwe Makeleni Community Contributors The James Family – ooXaba Mrs Kutazwa James Mrs Nokugcina James (special thanks for the recording of umsebenzi kaMnu. Luphumlo James) Mrs Ludidi Ms Phumla James Ms Nobuhle James Willowvale Makers Co-op Kholiswa Magidi Theko Theo Yinindwa Philiswa Matutu Nwabisa Mahlaleshushu Miranda Siwlabeni Youth Participants Zintle Bonakele Vuyokazi Mncono Lethu Jilingisi Nokubonga Hawu Lisakhanya Poni Yolande Tskane Liyabona Ntshobodwana Buyiswa Beauty Nduwe Community yakuGatyana Cebisa Magoqoza Mzukisi Nketshu Thando Madwantsi Thobile Tsutsu Sikelela Thobigunya Neliswa Bambintala Miranda Sihlangu And the broader community at large Special thanks to: Azola Krweqe Lukhanyo Muluse Locations Referenced Willowvale Arts Center, kuGatyane James Family Home – Elukhanyisweni, eQumbu, eMdeni Mr & Mrs James’ Residence – Highbury, Umtata James Residence – Walmer Road Lodge, Beacon Bay, East London Ngumla Family Home – eGcibala, Tsomo Mpintsha Family Home – Nkanga, Willowvale Buffalo City Municipality Production Team Executive Producer: Bongani Tau Curator & Editor: Siviwe James Content Advisor: Sihle Sogaula Graphic Design: 2DOTS Space Agency Video & Sound Editing: Siviwe James Text: Siviwe James Xhosa Language Advisor: Ms Nobuhle James Digital Archiving Support Art Meets App Institutional Support Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Arts and Culture UN/FOLDING_RE/FOLDING_FOLDED: Imiphindo kwaXhosa © 2023 Created and produced by Siviwe James (James-Laurie) With support from the African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) and Creative Nestlings Foundation, under the New Narratives Programme (2023). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

    3 min
  5. Episode 8: Ukugotywa kweelwimi

    09/29/2023

    Episode 8: Ukugotywa kweelwimi

    What do the slippages of fashion look like? What happens to the voids that form between urban and rural, past and present, individual and communal? In this episode, we explore the folds and fissures in fashion’s fabric — where languages, locations, and aesthetics intersect and fold into one another, revealing alternative fashion knowledges and new genealogies that resist singular narratives. Guided by Ms Nobuhle James, an advisor of isiXhosa in the Eastern Cape and a teacher for the unknowing and forgotten, we trace the beginnings of fold language kwaXhosa. Nobuhle’s personal story opens a portal into the creative potentials that emerge when resources are scarce but passions run deep. Her journey reminds us of the vital importance of investing in and nurturing creative infrastructures in ilali nabantwana basezilalini. Within an informal space of shared learning, Nobuhle navigates the fluid overlaps between languages and fashion codes, illustrating how kwaXhosa modes of knowing are continuously remade, innovated, and nurtured through communal care and embodied practice. “Ukugotywa kweelwimi akusiyonto yokudibeneyo nje kuphela; yindlela esiyilolonga ngayo imisebenzi yethu yexesha elidlulileyo kunye nelixa langoku, siphefumlelwa ziintsomi neendlela ezintsha.” The practice of folding languages, as explored here, is more than linguistic play — it is an embodied way of knowing and belonging. In folding isiXhosa with urban and rural dialects, past and present stories, individual and communal voices, a living language is shaped that holds space for creativity, resilience, and transformation. This epistemic methodology invites us to see language as a layered fabric, woven through relationships, histories, and places, creating new paths for connection and care within kwaXhosa communities. CLOSING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Narrating Voices Mr Mangaliso Jafta Azola Krweqe Ms Nobuhle James Mrs Nokhaya Jilingisa Mama Phakani Zizo Ntukushe Visual & Video Contributors Azola Krweqe Sibabalwe Makeleni Community Contributors The James Family – ooXaba Mrs Kutazwa James Mrs Nokugcina James (special thanks for the recording of umsebenzi kaMnu. Luphumlo James) Mrs Ludidi Ms Phumla James Ms Nobuhle James Willowvale Makers Co-op Kholiswa Magidi Theko Theo Yinindwa Philiswa Matutu Nwabisa Mahlaleshushu Miranda Siwlabeni Youth Participants Zintle Bonakele Vuyokazi Mncono Lethu Jilingisi Nokubonga Hawu Lisakhanya Poni Yolande Tskane Liyabona Ntshobodwana Buyiswa Beauty Nduwe Community yakuGatyana Cebisa Magoqoza Mzukisi Nketshu Thando Madwantsi Thobile Tsutsu Sikelela Thobigunya Neliswa Bambintala Miranda Sihlangu And the broader community at large Special thanks to: Azola Krweqe Lukhanyo Muluse Locations Referenced Willowvale Arts Center, kuGatyane James Family Home – Elukhanyisweni, eQumbu, eMdeni Mr & Mrs James’ Residence – Highbury, Umtata James Residence – Walmer Road Lodge, Beacon Bay, East London Ngumla Family Home – eGcibala, Tsomo Mpintsha Family Home – Nkanga, Willowvale Buffalo City Municipality Production Team Executive Producer: Bongani Tau Curator & Editor: Siviwe James Content Advisor: Sihle Sogaula Graphic Design: 2DOTS Space Agency Video & Sound Editing: Siviwe James Text: Siviwe James Xhosa Language Advisor: Ms Nobuhle James Digital Archiving Support Art Meets App Institutional Support Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Arts and Culture UN/FOLDING_RE/FOLDING_FOLDED: Imiphindo kwaXhosa © 2023 Created and produced by Siviwe James (James-Laurie) With support from the African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) and Creative Nestlings Foundation, under the New Narratives Programme (2023). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

    14 min
  6. Episode 7: Umbhinqo

    09/24/2023

    Episode 7: Umbhinqo

    Umbhinqo: Kubhinqa abatheni xa kutheni? Narrated by uMama Makholi, a revered maker at the Willowvale Arts Center, this episode brings us into the intricate folds of Xhosa dress practices—specifically umbhinqo and isishuba. With clarity and care, she details which folds adorn which body and for what occasion. Often associated with the feminine form, umbhinqo—the act of wrapping cloth around the body—extends far beyond gender. It is an embodied gesture of respect, a practice of reverence toward ancestry and social codes. With Mama Makholi as our guide, we come to understand how each fold, each fabric, carries histories that reach deep into the heart of Xhosa life. In our conversation, we also encounter isishuba, the traditional garment for men. Through her teaching, we begin to appreciate the craftsmanship, colour logic, and ritual significance embedded in these garments. As we listen, we are invited to consider: when we re-appropriate these garments in modern contexts, what meanings are we honouring—and which might we be folding out of view? “Umbhinqo akufani nokubhinqa. Enye yimpahla, enye sisithethe.” CLOSING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Narrating Voices Mr Mangaliso Jafta Azola Krweqe Ms Nobuhle James Mrs Nokhaya Jilingisa Mama Phakani Zizo Ntukushe Visual & Video Contributors Azola Krweqe Sibabalwe Makeleni Community Contributors The James Family – ooXaba Mrs Kutazwa James Mrs Nokugcina James (special thanks for the recording of umsebenzi kaMnu. Luphumlo James) Mrs Ludidi Ms Phumla James Ms Nobuhle James Willowvale Makers Co-op Kholiswa Magidi Theko Theo Yinindwa Philiswa Matutu Nwabisa Mahlaleshushu Miranda Siwlabeni Youth Participants Zintle Bonakele Vuyokazi Mncono Lethu Jilingisi Nokubonga Hawu Lisakhanya Poni Yolande Tskane Liyabona Ntshobodwana Buyiswa Beauty Nduwe Community yakuGatyana Cebisa Magoqoza Mzukisi Nketshu Thando Madwantsi Thobile Tsutsu Sikelela Thobigunya Neliswa Bambintala Miranda Sihlangu And the broader community at large Special thanks to: Azola Krweqe Lukhanyo Muluse Locations Referenced Willowvale Arts Center, kuGatyane James Family Home – Elukhanyisweni, eQumbu, eMdeni Mr & Mrs James’ Residence – Highbury, Umtata James Residence – Walmer Road Lodge, Beacon Bay, East London Ngumla Family Home – eGcibala, Tsomo Mpintsha Family Home – Nkanga, Willowvale Buffalo City Municipality Production Team Executive Producer: Bongani Tau Curator & Editor: Siviwe James Content Advisor: Sihle Sogaula Graphic Design: 2DOTS Space Agency Video & Sound Editing: Siviwe James Text: Siviwe James Xhosa Language Advisor: Ms Nobuhle James Digital Archiving Support Art Meets App Institutional Support Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Arts and Culture UN/FOLDING_RE/FOLDING_FOLDED: Imiphindo kwaXhosa © 2023 Created and produced by Siviwe James (James-Laurie) With support from the African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) and Creative Nestlings Foundation, under the New Narratives Programme (2023). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

    5 min
  7. Episode 6: Iintsimbi iyathetha

    09/17/2023

    Episode 6: Iintsimbi iyathetha

    Yonke into iyathetha. Netsimbi le iyathetha. This episode honours beadwork not simply as adornment, but as archive—a living, breathing language held in colour, thread, and form. We walk alongside uMama Nokhaya Jilingisa, a revered community elder and everyday knowledge-keeper, whose lifelong commitment to iintsimbi reveals how Xhosa epistemologies are preserved and passed through the hands of women, through the rigour of practice, and through the act of teaching. As a cultural educator and mentor, uMama Jilingisa has become a custodian of local memory. Her teachings on the making, meaning, and historical significance of iintsimbi serve as both craft instruction and cosmological insight. She reminds us that beadwork is not decorative—it is declarative. It speaks of lineage, of ritual, of mourning, of joy. It signals status, desire, and identity. It encodes our pasts in order to activate our futures. Through her voice and example, we begin to understand iintsimbi as an intergenerational knowledge system—one that is spoken through hands, worn on bodies, and carried in spirit. “Instimbi iyakwazi ukugcina imfihlo yexesha. Xa uyibuka kakuhle, ingakuxelela ngoobani, phi, nini, kwaye kutheni.” CLOSING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Narrating Voices Mr Mangaliso Jafta Azola Krweqe Ms Nobuhle James Mrs Nokhaya Jilingisa Mama Phakani Zizo Ntukushe Visual & Video Contributors Azola Krweqe Sibabalwe Makeleni Community Contributors The James Family – ooXaba Mrs Kutazwa James Mrs Nokugcina James (special thanks for the recording of umsebenzi kaMnu. Luphumlo James) Mrs Ludidi Ms Phumla James Ms Nobuhle James Willowvale Makers Co-op Kholiswa Magidi Theko Theo Yinindwa Philiswa Matutu Nwabisa Mahlaleshushu Miranda Siwlabeni Youth Participants Zintle Bonakele Vuyokazi Mncono Lethu Jilingisi Nokubonga Hawu Lisakhanya Poni Yolande Tskane Liyabona Ntshobodwana Buyiswa Beauty Nduwe Community yakuGatyana Cebisa Magoqoza Mzukisi Nketshu Thando Madwantsi Thobile Tsutsu Sikelela Thobigunya Neliswa Bambintala Miranda Sihlangu And the broader community at large Special thanks to: Azola Krweqe Lukhanyo Muluse Locations Referenced Willowvale Arts Center, kuGatyane James Family Home – Elukhanyisweni, eQumbu, eMdeni Mr & Mrs James’ Residence – Highbury, Umtata James Residence – Walmer Road Lodge, Beacon Bay, East London Ngumla Family Home – eGcibala, Tsomo Mpintsha Family Home – Nkanga, Willowvale Buffalo City Municipality Production Team Executive Producer: Bongani Tau Curator & Editor: Siviwe James Content Advisor: Sihle Sogaula Graphic Design: 2DOTS Space Agency Video & Sound Editing: Siviwe James Text: Siviwe James Xhosa Language Advisor: Ms Nobuhle James Digital Archiving Support Art Meets App Institutional Support Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Arts and Culture UN/FOLDING_RE/FOLDING_FOLDED: Imiphindo kwaXhosa © 2023 Created and produced by Siviwe James (James-Laurie) With support from the African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) and Creative Nestlings Foundation, under the New Narratives Programme (2023). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

    8 min
  8. Episode 5: Imiphindo ephilisayo (interlude)

    09/17/2023

    Episode 5: Imiphindo ephilisayo (interlude)

    What can creative practice offer a displaced spirit? How might making—through word, thread, voice, or movement—become a ritual of return? This interlude opens a soft space for pause and reflection. Through sonic fragments and field recordings, we begin to sense how creative work can function as ukubuyisa—a calling back of the self to place, memory, and community. For Black artists navigating dislocation, silence, or loss, imiphindo ephilisayo suggests that the fold can be medicinal: a site of re-stitching, remembering, and re-entry. This fragment does not seek to resolve, but to sense. It honours creative process as a form of care work—an intimate practice of spiritual repair and cultural resurgence. “Imiphindo ephilisayo ayenzi nje into—iyavula. Ivula indlela, ivula iintliziyo, ivula izandi zexesha.” CLOSING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Narrating Voices Mr Mangaliso Jafta Azola Krweqe Ms Nobuhle James Mrs Nokhaya Jilingisa Mama Phakani Zizo Ntukushe Visual & Video Contributors Azola Krweqe Sibabalwe Makeleni Community Contributors The James Family – ooXaba Mrs Kutazwa James Mrs Nokugcina James (special thanks for the recording of umsebenzi kaMnu. Luphumlo James) Mrs Ludidi Ms Phumla James Ms Nobuhle James Willowvale Makers Co-op Kholiswa Magidi Theko Theo Yinindwa Philiswa Matutu Nwabisa Mahlaleshushu Miranda Siwlabeni Youth Participants Zintle Bonakele Vuyokazi Mncono Lethu Jilingisi Nokubonga Hawu Lisakhanya Poni Yolande Tskane Liyabona Ntshobodwana Buyiswa Beauty Nduwe Community yakuGatyana Cebisa Magoqoza Mzukisi Nketshu Thando Madwantsi Thobile Tsutsu Sikelela Thobigunya Neliswa Bambintala Miranda Sihlangu And the broader community at large Special thanks to: Azola Krweqe Lukhanyo Muluse Locations Referenced Willowvale Arts Center, kuGatyane James Family Home – Elukhanyisweni, eQumbu, eMdeni Mr & Mrs James’ Residence – Highbury, Umtata James Residence – Walmer Road Lodge, Beacon Bay, East London Ngumla Family Home – eGcibala, Tsomo Mpintsha Family Home – Nkanga, Willowvale Buffalo City Municipality Production Team Executive Producer: Bongani Tau Curator & Editor: Siviwe James Content Advisor: Sihle Sogaula Graphic Design: 2DOTS Space Agency Video & Sound Editing: Siviwe James Text: Siviwe James Xhosa Language Advisor: Ms Nobuhle James Digital Archiving Support Art Meets App Institutional Support Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Arts and Culture UN/FOLDING_RE/FOLDING_FOLDED: Imiphindo kwaXhosa © 2023 Created and produced by Siviwe James (James-Laurie) With support from the African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) and Creative Nestlings Foundation, under the New Narratives Programme (2023). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

    2 min
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About

UN/FOLDING_RE/FOLDING_FOLDED: Imiphindo kwaXhosa is a practice-led podcast project by Siviwe James that unfolds as a sonic archive and a site of return. Through a series of intimate audio-visual encounters, the podcast explores the fold as both method and metaphor in African fashion—inviting listeners into the sensory, spiritual, and social lives of garments, rituals, and everyday cultural gestures. The project is supported by the African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International.

Information

  • Creator
    Siviwe James
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Siviwe James
  • Show Website
    Imiphindo kwaXhosa