WITS UNIVERSITY PRESS AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, UCT  CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO A BOOK EVENT CELEBRATING THE KIRBY COLLECTION

Please join us for the launching of the third edition of
THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE  INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF SOUTH AFRICA
By Percival R Kirby

Speakers:
Prof Sakhela Buhlungu, Dean of Humanities, UCT
Michael Nixon, Curator of the Kirby Collection
Anthea van Wieringen, relative of Percival Kirby
Welcome and introductions by Prof Rebekka Sandmeier,
Director of the South African College of Music, UCT

WHEN Friday 17 July 2015, at 18h30
WHERE Foyer of Strubenholm Building, South African College of Music, UCT Lower Campus
RSVP by Friday 10 July 2015 to [email protected]
The Kirby Collection will be open for viewing from 16h00-18h00 on Friday and during the book launch.
The collection is also open as per usual opening times.

Drinks and refreshments will be served.

This book event is part of the 2015 Congress of the South African Society for Research in Music taking place at UCT:
https://sasrim2015.wordpress.com

More about the book:

First published in 1934, this third edition of Percival Kirby’s The Musical Instruments of the Indigenous People of South Africa remains the groundbreaking archival and ethnographic benchmark study of the historical, musical and cultural practices of the indigenous people of Southern Africa, primarily through a study of their instruments in the early 20th century before the eradication of these ways.
It is significant for a number of reasons; it is based on a study made at a moment in South African history before World War II, and before the implementation of the 1933 Land Act and the apartheid government came to power, after which much of this knowledge was lost. There is no comparable text, especially dating from the period when Kirby wrote (the 1930s). He became established as the authority on southern African music because of this text and his subsequent work.
South Africa of the 21st century experiences an incredible diversity of musical culture and performance, a large amount based on the inevitable influence of European and American music. There is however, a resurging interest in the traditional musical practices of Southern Africa. The Musical Instruments of the Indigenous People of South Africa remains the definitive, standard work on the subject.
What is the Kirby Collection? The Kirby Collection is a unique and irreplaceable pre-urbanization example of the musical heritage of Southern Africa housed on the ground floor of the South African College of Music at the University of Cape Town.

For more information:

Musical Instruments of the Indigenous People of South Africa