Are We Our Work?

It’s the finale of season 2. This week’s episode looks at the similarly unique relationship between a mother and her son.  Patience Murray and Tiisetso Daniel Murray reflect on the milestones, bookmarks and series of experiences that contextualise their dynamic. They also speak candidly about loss, sorrow, joy, freedom, and how these feelings affect their ability to hold love and memory. Patience is a retired high school teacher. Tiisetso is an industrial engineer and software developer.

Our thematic focus for the remaining two weeks is familial love. This episode explores the unique bond between a father and his daughter.  Wagied Allie and Natasha Allie delve into the intricacies of parental love and the impact it has on a child’s sense of self. They also touch on the hopes, dreams, expectations, tensions and some of the torment that unfolds in their relationship.  Wagied is the founder of Battery and Energy Solutions. Natasha is the acting chief executive officer for the Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation. 

This week, we think through what it means to come together and to come undone. Kemo and Tiffany explore what we assume our relationships are supposed to be and look like, and how we evolve in different directions when we think we’re meant to evolve in the same direction. Kemo Bosielo is a public relations specialist and the co-host of Are We Our Work. Tiffany is a researcher, legal scholar and the creator of Are We Our Work.

Continuing with the theme of friendship, this week’s episode blurs the line between living together and working together.  Lesedi Mogoatlhe and Yumna Martin lead us into a conversation about boundaries at home and at work. Lesedi and Yumna discuss the complexities of negotiating change and evolution within a friendship, roommate-ship and co-worker relationship.   Lesedi is the host and editorial director of the Radio Workshop Podcast at the Children’s Radio Foundation. Yumna is a socio-economic development consultant.

Romantic relationships and romantic love are often privileged above friendship. Our participants this week explore the intimacy of friendship, and all the subtleties that come with navigating platonic love.   In Act 1, Kgosi Motsoane and Khotso Rams remember how they came together as friends in high school. In Act 2, Izzy Pereira and Ryan Whyte talk about why romance doesn’t have to be sexual. Kgosi is a development practitioner and the co-founder of Bare Stories. Khotso is a television host, actor and screenwriter. Izzy is a user interface and brand designer. Ryan is a graphic designer and the co-host of Bleed Advertising Podcast.

Tammy Langtry and Naadira Patel spotlight the opportunities and pitfalls that come with working in an informal art economy. Tammy as curator and Naadira as artist give us a sneak peek into the exhilarating and exasperating journey of navigating money and community when making art. They reflect on the politics of private and public funding in South Africa, and contextualize the precarious labour that comes with bringing independent artistic vision to life. Tammy is an independent curator and coordinator of Lapa, Brixton. Naadira is the creative director of softwork studio and the co-host of Are We Our Work.

Colleen Balchin and Vuma Levin break down why music will never die.  As two people working in the music industry, Colleen and Vuma weave work with love, frustration, passion, but also vulnerability. They deconstruct music as an emotional medium for human connection and share important insights on the harsh realities creative communities endure in South Africa. Colleen is a DJ and the co-founder of P_ssy Party. Vuma is a guitarist, composer and lecturer in the music department at Wits University. He is also the winner of the 2021 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Jazz.

Nisha Merit and Thati Pele foreground research as a labour of love. Nisha and Thati look back on their respective thesis projects completed in 2015 and 2017. They introduce us to two main characters: Sophie and Lerato. These protagonists become the lens through which we explore Nisha and Thati’s retrospective research work as catalytic paths of self-discovery that led them to new places.  Nisha is an independent curator and writer. Thati is a film director.

Deena Dinat and Kwena Chokoe share their long-time love for analogue photography.  Deena and Kwena take us through their respective philosophies and approaches to time, memory and photography. They politicise time as a non-linear construct and talk about photography as a practice of moving through time differently.  In addition to being photographers, Kwena is an actress and Deena lectures African Literature at the University of British Columbia.

Dave Du Preez and Marea Lewis take us through what it means to give all of yourself to your work in the context of food entrepreneurship.  As two founding entrepreneurs, Dave and Marea discuss the emotional labour that comes with starting a small business in Joburg’s co-working and café industry. Dave is the founder of Breezeblock and Marea is the founder of Toasted.

This week we talk about love, home and home-making in another place. Specifically making home in a city like Johannesburg.  We engage with Muriel Huet and Shalane Yuen. Both women take us on an emotional journey through ideas of comfort, discomfort, finding home through love and becoming mothers in Joburg. Muriel is a consultant in education. Shalane is the executive director of the Trevor Noah Foundation.

This episode examines the idiosyncrasies of young love that aspires to grow old.  In Act 1, we visit Kwena Chokoe’s grandfather (Ntate Mogolo) for tea and a conversation about love. In Act 2, Rob Scher and Lauren Barkhuizen discuss why they’re choosing to take a leap of faith together.  Ntate Mogolo is a retired school principal. Kwena is a photographer and actress. Rob is a senior specialist writer and Lauren is a clinical psychologist.

We begin with a conversion titled “Exhaustion”. This is an edited recording from a live event hosted by Naadira Patel in the context of a public program Power Talks that happened in Brixton, Johannesburg in September 2022. The project was convened by the Goethe Institut Joburg and The African Centre for Cities.On the panel, you hear from Dee Marco, Tammy Langtry and Tiffany Ebrahim. They speak about the productivity and potential of exhaustion, precarious labour, mothering, diagnosis fatigue, and the bizarre concept (especially when you work for yourself) of buying back your time.Dee is a writer and media studies lecturer at Wits University. Tammy is an independent curator and the coordinator of Lapa, Brixton. Tiffany is a legal scholar.

Are we only as good as our last salary? Ayanda Moholi argues against submitting a payslip when applying for a new job. Ayanda is a freelancer and the founder of ayandaco.

Home-based work is often invisible work. Nothando Moleketi-Williams considers her approach to parenting, and how her privilege equips her work as a mother. Nothando is a stay-at-home parent.

We should not have to choose between a career and a committed relationship. Nancy Moloantoa explains how her marriage came to an end, and why that marked the beginning of her career.  Nancy is a programme associate at the Ford Foundation.

Most institutions perpetuate legacies of discrimination and exclusion. Zwonaka Netshifulani reconciles the conflicted relationship she holds with her religion and the law. Zwonaka is a legal researcher at the Constitutional Court of South Africa.

The way we do our work is informed by how we experience our lives. Kieron Jina talks about the interrelationship between his professional and private life, and why he is not sorry. Kieron is a performance artist, queer activist and educator.

Trying to marry our values and our work requires strategy and vision. Hallie Haller discusses her attempts to overcome barriers to representation and creative fulfilment in media and marketing. Hallie is a director, producer and strategist.

Entrepreneurship is an unpredictable journey. Mpumelelo Mfula describes what it means to work with youth and street culture, while also enduring seasons of change. Mpumelelo is the founder and creative director of the RHTC online store.