“How I came about that title [ukuNqula kukuThandaza] was, I was really very much interested in the phenomenon of recitation and prayer, within an indigenous ecology of knowing, that really focuses on sound as a medium and a technology to activate energy of umoya, but to activate energy in whatever sense… Then it was centralising that activation of energy through the process of reciting and prayer.” 

Performer and multi-instrumentalist Nkosenathi Koela reflects on his transportive 2022 musical performance ukuNqula kukuThandaza, which meditates on practices of prayer through sound. Focusing on the vibrational power of words, chanting and incantation, Koela explores healing practices, indigenous music therapies and ritual making. 

The ICA Podcast is a creation of the Institute for Creative Arts (ICA) at the University of Cape Town. Season 3 is hosted by Nkgopoleng Moloi, and produced and edited by Catherine Boulle.

Read more about the ICA and the vision for the podcast: http://www.ica.uct.ac.za/ica/podcast/Season3.