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MY VERY FIRST QUESTION TO YOU: An acoustic portrait of journalist Ruth Weiss and southern African liberation politics.

The South African Jewish Museum presents My Very First Question to You: An acoustic portrait of journalist Ruth Weiss and southern African liberation politics. The exhibition opened on 8 September 2014.

Ruth Weiss, a renowned journalist and anti-Apartheid activist worked extensively throughout sub-Saharan Africa covering the liberation-era politics of the region. The exhibition features a sound installation with compositions from her interview archive and five selected interview clips made during this era. Weiss’ recordings – used for reference for her newspaper articles – offer an intimate, unfiltered opportunity to hear 20th century African icons in their own voice.

The five interviews featured in the exhibition are;

Kenneth Kaunda, the first president of independent Zambia (interviewed in 1979)

Libertine Amathila, the first black Namibian medical doctor and former Deputy President of Namibia (interviewed in 1979)

And three South African icons:

Miriam Makeba (interviewed in 1978),

Nadine Gordimer (interviewed in 1978) and,

Oliver Tambo (interviewed in 1985)

The exhibition is curated by Basler Afrika Bibliographien (BAB), the Namibia Resource Centre and Southern Africa Library in Switzerland, in collaboration with the South African Jewish Museum.