Keitu Gwangwa

Born in Botswana in 1980, the last of Jonas and Violet Gwangwa’s children. With her parents being active in the liberation movement and exiled from South Africa, Keitu Gwangwa grew up on the move, migrating from Botswana to England and to the Netherlands, her family members; scattered around the globe for 15 years. In 1991, the family reunited in South Africa, and gathered under one roof for the first time. The journey in search of identity began and Keituletse found in the arts a puissant tool of expression. She studied the Santa Monica Associate Theatre Arts Degree at Midrand University and swiftly discovered her love for Arts Administration. She then studied and pursued work in cultural entrepreneurship and project management, working closely with her father on and off stage. The birth of her son Leruo brought with it her calling to become a Sangoma. Keitu heeded the call and was pulled into the ancient institution of African knowledge systems and philosophy, this fundamentally shaped the foundation of her work today.

As a practicing Sangoma and Artist, I discovered the distance between modern living and Ancient African concepts of wellness. I have worked for the past 15 years to bridge the two spaces. Culture should be accessible and functional; it should evolve with its people; it is time to unravel it and make it so.”

Keitu

Keitu founded Africa Zazi, to hold platforms for discussions about cultural, ritual, and spiritual knowledge systems of Ancient African and current society. In collaboration with different artists working in different mediums, Africa Zazi explores the continent’s original intention for the guiding principles of creating humanity and what that collectively looks like today in a diverse and inclusive society. The speaker, curator and healer challenges the fragility of heritage preservation to build a sustainable tangible construct of African Cultural Identity rich in wisdom and usable today.

Instagram: @sang0farian

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