South Africa In Focus Symposium
"The Sound of Freedom: How Art and Music Fuelled South Africa’s Struggle Against Apartheid"

Dr Siyabulela Mandela is a globally respected peace and human rights leader, scholar and diplomatic strategist specialising in international development and conflict resolution. A descendant of King Ngubengcuka Aa Ndaba of the Thembu Kingdom and bearer of the Madiba clan name, he brings a rich heritage to his work advancing sustainable peace. He holds a PhD in International Relations and Conflict Resolution from Nelson Mandela University and has held academic posts in South Africa, Iraq and the
United States. Formerly with Journalists for Human Rights, he has led peacebuilding initiatives worldwide and now advises governments and multilateral actors on diplomacy and development.

Lebohang Kganye (b. 1990, South Africa) works with expanded photography, video and mixed media to create works that layer historiography, research, theatricality, autobiography and poetics in often sculptural installations. The artist’s family name is etymologically linked to the Sotho word for light, “kganya”; bringing light to layered postcolonial histories is an animating thread in her practice.

Kganye is featured in MoMA New Photography 2025. Her recent touring solo exhibition, Le Sale ka Kgotso, debuted at the Fotografiska, Berlin (2025), and features newly commissioned work. She is the recipient of the 2024 Deutsche Börse Foundation Prize for her solo exhibition at Foam (2023). Other notable recent awards include the ICP Infinity Award, 2025, the Foam Paul Huf Award, 2022 and the Camera Austria Award, 2019.

The artist has recently exhibited at the Albertina Museum, Tate Modern, the Art Institute of Chicago, LE BAL, the Barnes Foundation, and other notable institutions. In 2022, Kganye exhibited in the South African Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

Kganye’s work is held in collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Centre Pompidou, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Getty Museum, and the Chazen Museum, among others.

Pieter Hugo (b. 1976, Johannesburg) is a photographic artist living in Cape Town. He has held major solo exhibitions at institutions such as Museu Coleção Berardo, the Hague Museum of Photography, Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Fotografiska in Stockholm, and MAXXI in Rome, among many more. In 2008, Hugo received both the Discovery Award at the Rencontres d’Arles Festival and the KLM Paul Huf Award. He has since been shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize in 2012, and the Prix Pictet in 2015.

Sean O’Toole is an award-winning writer, editor and curator based in Cape Town. He has published two books, edited three volumes of essays and written extensively about art, photography and architecture for various print and online media. His most recent books are the biography Irma Stern: African in Europe - European in Africa (2021) and The Journey: New Positions in African Photography (2020), a New York Times notable art book of 2021. His recent curatorial projects include Photo book! Photo-book! Photobook! (2022) at A4 Arts Foundation and The Objects (2023) at Under Projects, both in Cape Town.

Asanda Lusaseni, known professionally as Msaki, is a South African composer, singer, and songwriter. Although she is known as a musician, Msaki trained in fine art, graphic design, film photography and curation at Rhodes University, Leeds University, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and East London Technikon. She is a South African Music Award (SAMA) winning musician, who contributed to Black Coffee's Grammy Award winning album as writer, composer and artist.

Her practice now entails intentionally synthesising her musical and visual expression through work that merges installation and performance. This expression is seen through the launch of her album: Of Love in Protest, at Nirox Sculpture Park 2022, Johannesburg, and presentation of Ndiyozilanda at the National Arts Festival 2023. She is the 2022 Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year for Music and a part of this year's South African Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

Jillian Wolf is an award-winning journalist, presenter, executive producer, public speaker, and judge for the prestigious annual Emmy Awards.
She has reached billions of viewers worldwide, through the world's largest media networks and publications including Forbes, TODAY Show, NBC News, Al Jazeera English, Thomson Reuters, and more.
She presents and moderates global special events, including the UN General Assembly, Global Citizen Festival, the FIFA World Cup, Forbes Summits, SXSW, Web Summit, London Tech Week, the CFDA Awards, and fashion runways around the world.
Known for her ability to disarm even the most prominent of guests, Jillian has interviewed the likes of Dame Anna Wintour, Trevor Noah, James Vowles, Martha Stewart, Precious and Patrice Motsepe, members of the Mandela and Tutu families, as well as leading founders and political figures from around the globe.
Born in South Africa and raised across Europe, the UK, Australia, and the United States, Jillian considers herself a citizen of the world. Her international upbringing has given her the ability to connect across racial, religious, and cultural boundaries, and get to the heart of the human story, every time.