Music. Resistance. Solidarity. Hope.

In a world increasingly marked by war, inequality, injustice and division, how do we reclaim our shared humanity? How do we create spaces for solidarity, imagination and the possibility of change?

The Living Rights Festival 2026 invites you to join us as we open this year’s programme with an extraordinary musical encounter.

On Sunday, 15 November, the Insurrections Ensemble presents DEFIANT CURRENTS at the Central Methodist Mission in Cape Town.

Bringing together musicians from Africa and Asia, the Ensemble moves across musical traditions, combining powerful vocals, strings, percussion, indigenous instruments, poetry and soundscapes.

Featuring Selamawit Aragaw, Sumangala Damodaran, Stephen de Souza, Sazi Dlamini, Asher Gamedze, Pritam Ghosal, Today Kamoyi, Reza Khota, Lungiswa Plaatjies and Ari Sitas.

The Living Rights Festival, an initiative of the Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA), brings artists, scholars, activists and communities together to engage with some of the most pressing questions of our time. Through music, theatre, poetry, dialogue and community participation, the Festival seeks to strengthen solidarity, defend human dignity and inspire collective action for a more just and peaceful world.

Join us for the opening of this year’s Festival.

Sunday, 15 November 2026 | 17:00–20:30

Central Methodist Mission, Greenmarket Square, Cape Town

Tickets: R200

Come for the music. Be part of the Festival.

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