By Ivor Ichikowitz
William Kentridge’s new show “The Head & The Load”, recently debuted at the Joburg Theatre. It’s a compelling, tight, 90-minute show that blends acting, dance, music and art in a visceral retelling of the lives and the plight of Africans conscripted into the wars of empires that played out across the world from 1914 to 1918.
The title is adapted from the Ghanaian proverb, “the head and the load are the troubles of the neck”, which as Kentridge will tell you is a play on the physical load that more than 1 million Africans had to bear as porters to the imperial armies of Britain, France and Germany, the historical load that the war was and the psychic load of knowing that more than 150 000 of them perished in the process.
Some of the conscripts were trained as soldiers, literally askaris for the foreign empires, but the majority of them were nothing more than forced labour dragging guns up mountain passes and even an entire ship inland to the Great Lakes region when the pack horses and draught oxen died from exhaustion.
They were treated appallingly. They received none of the rewards nor recognition that their white counterparts did. Instead, when the war was finally over, they were let go with a bicycle and a final pay packet, no medal or thanks.
“The Head & The Load” is a vital exploration of all of this and is vitally important because it recasts the “Great War”, as World War I is typically remembered, as one with nuances and narratives far beyond the narrow stereotypes of white Western heroism and realpolitik.
Critically it is a vital reminder of the old African adage that until the lion learns to write, every story will tell the tale of the hunter.
When we think of the stories we hear, the ones that shape our consciousness, it is frightening and deeply saddening for some of us to realise we have only heard the tale of the hunter – and that we have shaped our entire reality around that.
We need to tell the tale of the hunt from the lion’s perspective, to ensure that every story we hear gives us the lion’s view, as well as the hunter’s – and that of the buck too that would have been the lion’s prey had the hunter not intervened.
It is only in knowing the fullest possible story that we can begin to understand the context in which we live, identify the problems and then begin to address them.
It is one of the reasons why it has been so important for the family foundation which I head to sponsor the African premiere of this incredible show, as well as to facilitate the outreach programme, in partnership with the Centre for the Less Good Idea, to 100 Grade 10 and 11 learners and youth artists and give them a platform to tell their stories in their own right – this time under the theme of “The Africa that we want”.
It’s an initiative aimed at a younger audience than the one we have targeted in the biennial African Youth Survey (AYS), which is about to begin its third iteration of field work across 15 African countries.
The AYS takes the pulse of the continent’s youth – a cross section of 4 500 people in the 18–25 age group – finding out what it is that they hope for, what they fear and, critically, what they need to unlock the latent potential in their own lives.
This is a vitally important demographic, after all they are the next cohort of Africa’s leaders and they are determined to make their own way in the world.
In South Africa’s case, the last findings of the AYS, published only last year, are cause for great concern: the youth are less optimistic about the direction the country is taking – just under half then were actually negative.
They do not have much faith in politicians. In fact, South African youth have the lowest trust in politicians than their peers anywhere else on the continent.
Instead, they are putting their faith in local leaders and community organisations to bring about change.
This is yet another reason why an initiative like the one held at Kentridge’s outreach centre in Maboneng on April 20 and then the opportunity to take to the impressive new stage with the main cast backstage at the Joburg Theatre on Sunday, April 23 has been so important.
We dare not forget our history, but in order to remember we first have to be told it, which has been the driving force behind the establishment of the African Oral History Archive.
“The Head and The Load” is an important piece of work that supports this mission to inform the next generation of leaders who now have the opportunity to learn from the past tragedies and the missteps of history, which have helped forge our independent mindset.
The world may have omitted our role in World War I but it is imbued in our DNA nonetheless, helping to foster a grit and tenacity unrivalled the world over. The result is a compulsion to reshape Africa’s future as the next generation envisions it.
We must not be afraid to unlock and explore the past traumas endured by often nameless men and women who weren’t given the dignity of gratitude for their service, not only in World War I but also other conflicts around the world.
We must not fear bringing these stories into the light here at home and showcasing to the world to ensure that we will never again be relegated to the dark annals of history.
Our country is rich in history, but it is a history very much of voices being suppressed, only to find ways to break free with seismic consequences, whether it was the Young Lions of 1976, the street committees of the states of emergency in the 1980s or the next generation of leaders right now.
They took to the stage on April 23, four days before the country commemorated Freedom Day, the 29th anniversary of all South Africans going to the polls as free men and women, fully fledged citizens with every right, many for the first time in their lives on April 27, 1994.
Next year will be the landmark 30th anniversary – and this country’s seventh general elections. Just how much of a watershed that will be will depend on the youth and how they mobilise. From what we were able to hear at the on-stage youth dialogue, it will be a very real inflection point for us all.
None of us can say we weren’t warned.
The youth do not just need the opportunity to be shown how best to make their voices heard using the incredible insight of Kentridge or being taught stagecraft and storytelling by luminaries such as Philip Miller, Thuthuka Sibisi, Gregory Maqoma and Gcina Mhlophe, they also need an opportunity to be heard.
We need to listen to the youth, we need them to be included in writing their own futures, otherwise we run the risk of them rendering us irrelevant when they finally learn to write their own stories; stories in which the hunter is finally and fully vanquished by the lion.
* Ichikowitz is an African industrialist and philanthropist. He chairs the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, which established the African Oral history Archive, conceptualised and funds the African Youth Survey and funded both the African premiere of the “Head and the Load” as well as the outreach programme and youth production that flowed from it.
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.