Perivi John Katjavivi

New Archival Visions Digital Curatorial Fellow

Perivi John Katjavivi is a Namibian filmmaker, historian, sound practitioner, and founder of the Return to the Source Pan-African Film Lab. He is currently a Digital Curatorial Fellow in the New Archival Visions programme at the Centre for Humanities Research (CHR), University of the Western Cape.

His current fellowship project, Listening to Ghosts: Sonic Archives and the Afterlives of Namibia’s Liberation Struggle, explores how archival recordings can be approached not simply as historical evidence but as sonic traces of political experience, memory, and atmosphere. Working with collections in the Mayibuye Archive and related holdings, the project examines listening as a method of historical inquiry and creative practice.

Katjavivi recently completed a PhD in History at the UWC examining haunted colonial landscapes, oral history, ritual practice, and filmmaking as methods of engaging historical memory in Namibia. He is the director of the award-winning feature film Under the Hanging Tree (2023), Namibia’s first submission to the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film, and his screen work also includes the Netflix series Emoyeni, recipient of three South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs).

Working across film, sound, archives, and public humanities, his practice explores memory, spirituality, colonial afterlives, and collaborative approaches to artistic research. His films, writings, sonic works, and workshops have been presented internationally at festivals, universities, and cultural institutions across Africa, Europe, and North America.