Art and Ubuntu Trust Launches Groundbreaking Book Series Elevating African Knowledge and Artists

By Zubeida Jaffer

Johannesburg, March 26, 2026

In a vibrant celebration of African intellectual heritage, the Art and Ubuntu Trust unveiled an expanded library of publications at the University of Johannesburg, positioning artists as vital thinkers, researchers, and spiritual guides amid societal challenges.

The event marked 20 years of sustained effort at promoting the artistic knowledge of Ernest Mancoba and other South African artists. Mancoba, referred to as the mentor of Govan Mbeki and peer to other key intellectuals and artists in 1930s South Africa, was a sculptor and painter whose intellectual contributions are particularly relevant as the world is gripped in a fever of war.

According to filmmaker, editor of the series, and founder of the trust Bridget Thompson, Mancoba’s aesthetics of peace rejected the notion of othering.

Guest speaker, CEO of the SA Film Academy and former government film policy architect Lindi Ndebele-Koka, hailed the initiative as “a deliberate and necessary contribution” to documenting indigenous knowledge, theorising African aesthetics, and amplifying artists’ voices.

The new collections—Indigenous Knowledge in the Arts Series, Exploring Aesthetics Series and Artists Speak Series — challenge conventional academia. “Knowledge did not begin in textbooks—it lived in communities, practices, and oral traditions,” Ndebele-Koka said, invoking Ubuntu’s relational philosophy: Ngesintu kuthiwa “Izandla ziyagezana” (Hands wash each other). She urged academics to centre African epistemologies in curricula, affirmed creative practitioners’ work as “tangible legacy,” and presented the texts as an “inheritance” for students; invitations to question, create, document, and define their own frameworks.

The library emerges not as a static repository but a “collective intellectual space” where voices converge, histories endure, and future generations draw inspiration.

Looking ahead, she posed critical questions: How to ensure accessibility? Integrate this knowledge into classrooms, studios, and communities? Sustain artists as creators and thinkers? “The work does not end here—it begins here,” she emphasised, affirming: “Our stories matter. Our knowledge matters. Our artists matter.”

Attendees, including academics, artists, and students, applauded the launch as a pivotal step in preserving stories and shaping futures. The series promises to reshape dialogues on African art, knowledge, and identity.

Zubeida Jaffer serves as the chairperson of the Arts and Ubuntu Trust. Bridget Thompson has been the driving force behind the initiative. Up and coming art specialist Zipho Dyasile stands in the wings to move the project further.    

The books can be purchased at https://ujpress.uj.ac.za/

For more information about the Art and Ubuntu Trust, visit www.artubuntu.org

With gratitude for support from the Department of Sports Arts and Culture, National Lottery Commission, National Arts Council and the Presidential Stimulus Fund for the Arts.