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South African cellist, vocalist and composer Abel Selaocoe returns to his roots for a specially curated Barbican weekend in April 2026. The Mohopolo/Ancestral Memory Weekend brings together artists from his homeland of South Africa in a powerful act of remembrance and celebration of shared history through music and will be a highlight of the Barbican’s Spring 2026 season.

Running from Thursday 23 April to Sunday 26 April 2026, and joined by Mbuso Khosa, Nduduzo Makhathini, Gontse Makhene, BCUC, Toya Delazy, Mthuthuzeli November and DJ SNO, Selaocoe traces the journeys of the Bantu people – exploring collective histories of community, resilience and resistance. Through music, movement and storytelling, the weekend reflects on the sonic legacies of the Anglo-Zulu War at Isandlwana, songs of rain, love and rebellion from the apartheid era, and the ancestral rhythms that continue to offer healing and hope today. 

Showcasing the depth and diversity of South Africa’s musical landscape, the weekend-long event spans traditional Zulu music, Afro-psychedelic future pop, Afrorave, amapiano and contemporary jazz. Across the weekend, audiences are invited to experience exclusive performances, new collaborations and premieres that honour both heritage and innovation in South African music. In addition, rhythm workshops linked to the music that audiences will hear throughout the weekend will be announced at a later date.

Music is the ceremony of remembering. 
To be a musician is to make peace with your own shapeshifting, 
to fraternize with your fluidity, and in so doing, trace echoes of the self back through time. 
Improvisation is not merely play, it is pilgrimage. A surrender. 
A sacred getting-lost so that something ancient might be found. 
                                                                                                – Anonymous 

Mohopolo/ Ancestral Memory Weekend events: 

• Tracing the Echoes (Thu 23 Apr, Milton Court, 7.30pm)
• BCUC / Toya Delazy / DJ SNO (Sat 25 Apr, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• Simunye (We Are One) ClubStage with DJ SNO (Sat 25 Apr, Level G, 9.45pm)
• Sithunyiwe / We Have Been Sent (Sun 26 Apr, Barbican Hall, 7pm) 

More details about each of the events in the Mohopolo/Ancestral Memory weekend can be found below:

 Tracing the Echoes  

Abel Selaocoe & Friends   

In the opening concert of his Mohopolo/Ancestral Memory Weekend, South African cellist, composer and vocalist Abel Selaocoe brings together a remarkable group of collaborators for an intimate evening exploring ancestral connection through music. 

Tracing the Echoes unites Selaocoe with legendary Zulu musician Mbuso Khosa, celebrated pianist Nduduzo Makhathini, and percussionist Gontse Makhene to share songs and stories drawn from their respective tribal traditions. Together, they trace musical lineages that move between the sacred and the spontaneous, where improvisation, ritual and memory intertwine. 

Part of Mohopolo/Ancestral Memory Weekend, curated by Abel Selaocoe 

Produced by the Barbican 
Find out more

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BCUC / Toya Delazy / DJ SNO  

South African artists BCUC (Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness) and Toya Delazy join forces for a powerful collaboration as part of Abel Selaocoe’s Mohopolo/Ancestral Memory Weekend. Blending heavy electronic and traditional beats, their performance channels ancestral energy through a fusion of punk-rock, psychedelia, hip-hop and African rhythms. 

In this special event, they create a sound that is both contemporary and deeply rooted in history – a reflection on the lives, struggles and spiritual resilience of communities whose stories are often unheard. Drawing inspiration from the spirit world of their ancestors, the performance celebrates Africa not as a continent defined by scarcity, but one rich in tradition, ritual and belief. 

Part of Mohopolo/Ancestral Memory weekend, curated by Abel Selaocoe  

Produced by the Barbican 
Find out more 

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Simunye (We are one) 

“Jiva kuze kuse / Dance till the sun comes up!” 

Following the concert, audiences are invited to continue the celebration with Simunye (We Are One) – a late-night ClubStage led by South African DJ SNO. Expect an exhilarating journey through South African jams across time and space, driven by SNO’s unshakable spirit of joy and movement. Nothing stands still on her dance floor. 

Hailing from the township of Bophelong, SNO (Selina Nongaliphe Oliphant) sees music as a beacon of strength and hope for the marginalised — a vision rooted in her formative years growing up under apartheid. A genuine innovator in musical curation, she brings together the rhythms of jazz, funk, and Amapiano to create a space of togetherness, energy and freedom. 

Part of Mohopolo/Ancestral Memory weekend, curated by Abel Selaocoe  

Produced by the Barbican 
Find out more

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Sithunyiwe / We Have Been Sent 
Abel Selaocoe & Friends  

A brand-new multidisciplinary performance commissioned by the Barbican closes Abel Selaocoe’s Mohopolo/Ancestral Memory Weekend, bringing together music, dance and storytelling in an expression of ancestral connection and collective spirit. 

Sithunyiwe – “we have been sent” – means we have been sent by our ancestors to invigorate the spirit of those that are around us. Selaocoe describes this new project as following ‘a child-like surrender to the instincts of our bodies and how we hear'. Created by acclaimed choreographer and dancer Mthuthuzeli November (Ballet Black, Royal Ballet, Stormzy, The Chemical Brothers), this new dance work channels the deep spirituality of South African traditions through the body. 

Music is created and performed by Mbuso Khosa, Abel Selaocoe and Nduduzo Makhathini, joined by the Bantu Ensemble, led by Rakhi Singh, and joined by Gontse Makhene, Sidiki Dembélé and friends.  

Together they craft a spontaneous, immersive performance that seeks to heal, educate and unite – a celebration of togetherness and renewal. 

Part of Mohopolo/Ancestral Memory weekend, curated by Abel Selaocoe 

Commissioned and produced by the Barbican 
Find out more