{{'Newsletter' | t}}

As I begin the second year of my PhD, I look back fondly at a year of growth, learning and self-discovery. My first year of PhD studies in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures (SMLC) set the foundation for my research on the circulation and performance of Afrobeats and African music in China. Alongside my supervisors, Professor Samson Bezabeh and Professor John Wong, we have begun to cultivate a study I believe will challenge existing narratives of Africanness in China and rethink China–Africa relations through a novel cultural, sonic and rhythmic lens. The interdisciplinary nature of SMLC has allowed me to explore and combine anthropological, sociological and historical perspectives in this cultural studies project. My research rethinks how we study the relationship between China and Africa. Rather than focusing solely on economics and politics, it turns to music as a way to understand the lives of Africans in China. Afrobeats, a genre that has travelled from West Africa to the world, offers a unique entry point to this field. The open and ever-shifting nature of the Department has been the perfect landscape to workshop and create a study I believe can greatly move Sino-African studies into interesting and uncharted waters.

The beauty of deciding to study Africa and Africanness so far away from the continent and having the opportunity to study within SMLC is that borders, be they theoretical or physical, can be crossed and intersected. Together with the SMLC, I organised a viewing of the documentary “Echo: Black Women Artists in Hong Kong”. This event brought together members of the HKU community to better understand a niche experience of blackness and artistry in Hong Kong directly from the people who make and produce art. I invited the documentary’s director, Professor Emily Chow-Quesada, and its two stars, Eli Zaela and Jemima Joy Gbadago, who spoke on their experiences within their respective artistic industries. 

​

​

`Thandi with the director and stars of Echo: Black Women Artists in Hong Kong.

​

​

Screening of Echo: Black Women Artists in Hong Kong at HKU.

Both Eli and Jemima have had long careers in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, moving from one sphere to the next. Eli is a multilingual artist and actress from South Africa who sings in Setswana, isiZulu, English and Mandarin. She moved to Hong Kong to play “Nala” in Hong Kong Disneyland’s “The Lion King” production. She has since performed at the South African Embassy in China, the South African Consulate in Hong Kong, and the Rugby 7s half-time show, to name a few. Most relevant to my research, in 2021 Eli made international news as the first black woman to release a song in Chinese. Jemima, on the other hand, works within the modelling industry and as a theatre actress. This screening gave me an insight into what to expect as I embark on my fieldwork in the future and delve deeper into the lives of black creatives in an Asian context. 

My love for music extends far beyond my research and has marked a major part of my life in Hong Kong. I met a fellow music lover at a concert event hosted by HKU MUSE on campus. We now meet up often to share our love for music and play songs together with his band. Meeting fellow music lovers on campus has opened up new avenues to understanding the dynamics of music and performance in Hong Kong, especially a budding independent and underground music scene of people from around the world.

 

Thandi Singing with friends in Hong Kong.

I look forward to materialising this research throughout the next three years of my PhD and tentatively plan on doing fieldwork in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. I believe the possibilities are endless, and I hope to enrich Sino-African perspectives by using music as a passage to understand people and the ways they construct societies in the context of Africans in China. My aim is to move beyond common narratives that frame China-Africa relations as either entirely predatory or entirely partnership. These stories often obscure the complexity of real human interactions. Music, dance and social media reveal a more layered picture, one where people negotiate identity, connection and constraint in their daily lives. Although I am still in the early stages of my PhD, my first year has filled me with the confidence and enthusiasm to produce meaningful work.