Our Book

To celebrate Mothertongue’s 21st anniversary, Collaborative Conversations weaves together the reflections of a group of artists, scholars and writers who have journeyed with the organisation over the last two decades. Since its inception in 2000 with What the Water Gave Me, The Mothertongue Project has used participatory, integrated arts methods to create theatrical works that strive for personal and collective dialogue and healing in South Africa. In poetry, scholarly writing and transcribed oral conversations, the contributors now think and feel their way through the aspirations and achievements – and the alchemy – of The Mothertongue Project’s work. Accompanied by photographs of performances from across the 21 years,this book provides a sense of what a Mothertongue theatre piece does: it draws audience and performers into transformative, embodied conversations.

‘Soul sharpening sensuality and dialogue between Africana women artists, activists, practitioners and scholars flow through this collection. Theatre, storytelling, song, music, poetry, puppetry and the visual arts spark and animate a decolonial ‘activist aesthetics’ infused with Ubuntu - interdependence. Through art’s many languages, contributors have built experiments, habits and rituals that do more than validate what is and what has been. They lure and beckon us towards what could be. What a glorious resource.’ – DR YASMIN GUNARATNAM, SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENT, GOLDSMITHS COLLEGE

To order a copy, navigate to Modjaji Press: https://www.modjajibooks.co.za/titles/collaborative-conversations-celebrating-twenty-one-years-of-the-mothertongue-project/