Prof Plaatjies Inaugural Lecture – My Journey

Professor Plaatjies presents his inaugural lecture titled “My journey”. Plaatjies has been instrumental in a resurgence of musical bow appreciation through his teachings at UCT.

He is not only a master bow player, but also a master bow maker.
“Although I grew up in ‘urban times’, my journey into the art of the bow started at the knee of my rural Mpondo mothers and aunts. This journey has taken me far away from these early formative interactions. However, the impact of their artistry and wisdom has provided sustenance and solace throughout my career as performer and educator. Perhaps now is the time for me to reflect on aspects of the past and to contemplate what the future holds.”
Professor Dizu Zungula Mzikantu Plaatjies heads African Music Performance at the South African College of Music (SACM) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Plaatjies is one of South Africa’s leading traditional artists and cultural historians of African Music. He is the founder and leader of the music group Ibuyambo and the founder and former leader of South Africa’s globally celebrated traditional group, Amampondo, who recorded and toured locally and internationally in the 1980s and 90s. The son of a traditional healer, Plaatjies’s upbringing in Lusikisiki, a rural part of Mpondoland in the Eastern Cape, immersed him in Mpondo culture and traditions. His ability to revive, revamp and communicate old cultural practices and teaching methods has led to countless teaching and performance engagements locally and abroad. 2024 marks Plaatjies’s 32nd anniversary as a member of the UCT staff, and it is also the year he will retire from the institution.