CHR Artist in Residence Tony Bonani Miyambo performs Commission Continua for the 2021 National Arts Festival Experience.

Conceptualised by Miyambo and Phala O. Phala, the show follows the history of South Africa’s commissions of enquiry, laying bare the heart of the South African society’s struggle for real change and reconciliation. Commission Continua interweaves affidavits, addendums, appendices, testimonials, submissions, draft reports, and reports.

Bright Maluleke (played by Miyambo) is an employee who copies and archives official documents from the commissions. He does his best just to stick to his brief and ignore the content of the files – but this proves difficult when faced with all these pages giving an account of the most critical and catastrophic moments in South Africa’s history. In the frugal setting of a photocopier, a microphone, and a loop station, he begins to give vent to his annoyance with the ‘paper jam.’ 

Commission Continua was nominated for BEST PUBLIC PERFORMANCE at the 2022 Humanities and Social Sciences Awards (HSS). The HSS Awards is an annual initiative run by the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS). Upon receipt of the nomination, the writers commented:

“This collaboration between the Centre for Humanities Research and the National Arts Festival has allowed us to explore questions around governance as society tries to forge a way forward from the devastation of our past. At the heart of this show is the desire to understand South African society’s struggle for real change and reconciliation.”