As part of a visit to University of Oldenburg (Germany), a delegation from the Faculty of Humanities engaged in a series of discussions aimed at relaunching the longstanding partnership between the two institutions.
The Nelson Mandela University delegation comprised Executive Dean Prof. Pamela Maseko, Head of Department Philosophy Dr. Karabo Maiyane, and Chair of Faculty Internationalisation and Engagement David Bester.
Engagements focused on different understandings of knowledge production across global academic communities, including how archives are conceived in diverse contexts (for example through texts, objects, oral traditions, rituals, and collective memory). Discussions also explored how different research traditions can inform and challenge one another, and how collaborative approaches might help address biased ways of knowing. The role of AI in shaping contemporary knowledge production in the humanities also formed part of the dialogue.
The visit further created space to explore future areas of collaboration and funding opportunities between the Humanities Faculty and Faculty IV (Humanities and Social Sciences) at the University of Oldenburg.
/en/fk4/veranstaltung/besuch-aus-suedafrika
#nelsonmandelauniversity #internationalpartnerships
#researchcollaboration
#inclusiveness #decolonial
Wat ’n absolute meesterstuk van ’n uitvoering! David Bester en José Dias het die gehoor vandag behoorlik betower met Immergroen.
Van die opwinding van Beethoven se "Lente" Sonate tot die roerende klanke van Ladies in Lavender, ons het behoorlik hoendervleis gekry. Die samespel tussen die viool en klavier was niks minder as bonatuurlik nie. Dit was duidelik hoekom hierdie twee as van Suid-Afrika se heel beste musici beskou word. Ware musikale vuurwerke!
.
What an absolute masterpiece of a performance! David Bester and José Dias completely spellbound the audience today with Immergroen.
From the excitement of Beethoven’s "Spring" Sonata to the stirring notes of Ladies in Lavender, we literally had goosebumps.
The synergy between the violin and piano was nothing short of supernatural. It’s clear why these two are regarded as some of South Africa’s finest musicians. True musical fireworks!
Photos: @docu_media_solutuons
I was made aware yesterday that I might be setting a tiny record by doing three different classical recitals in one day at the Kunskoors festival in Jeffreys Bay this weekend! 😬😂
Needless to say, I cannot wait to spend some time on stage with darling Frédéric and his life story, but especially to share that stage with my fantastic colleagues and friends, @david.bester@lesego_mkhwanazi and @britandherlife this Sunday.
Thank you @kunskoors for this incredible opportunity and the amazing vision of bringing a festival of this kind to the surf capital of SA!
🙏❤️🎶🏄♂️🌊
#art #music #festival #kunskoors #jeffreysbay
Marietjie Bester (23 November 1961 - 25 July 2025)
It's been a week since I've received the terrible news. And even though I could not yet bring myself to share it more widely, the outpouring of support from far and wide has been immensely comforting.
My mother was brilliant, creative, pragmatic and fiercely capable.
She had a razor-sharp sense of humour and a gift for seeing through the hypocracy and absurdity in the world. We shared many laughs, many tears, and countless hours trying to figure out how we'll make this world a better place.
I will remember my mother as a fighter. Quietly, and with astonishing resilience, she faced immense hardships: chronic illness, loss, trauma, and many seasons of feeling untethered from the world. It is thanks to her that I know how to carry on, how to rise above.
My mother encouraged me to keep growing, keep working, keep trying. She gave so much of herself to help make me who I am. Ours was a rare and special bond; outsiders both, shaped by a world that admired our excellence but never truly accepted our essence.
Ma, I wish you could know how truly rich and fulfilled my life is. I will grieve the life you didn’t get to live. And I will celebrate you as fiercely and joyfully as you lived those far-too-few sunshine-filled seasons.
Rest now, Mamma. You were so loved 💔
Music lecturer honoured with prestigious HSS award #R2bP
Reasons to be Proud - David Bester, Senior Lecturer in Mandela University’s Department of Music and Performing Arts recently earned top honours at the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Awards — a flagship initiative of the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS).
The awards recognise outstanding scholars in the Humanities and Social Sciences for their contributions to telling authentic South African stories that shape new ways of knowing. Now in its 10th anniversary year, these awards emphasise the value of scholarly contributions to public discourse, highlighting their essential role in fostering social cohesion.
Bester won the 2025 Humanities and Social Sciences Award in the Best Public Performance category within the Creative Collections. His winning performance was entitled "Restring | Reverberate | Resonate."
The award-winning performance made a significant impact at the inaugural South African Strings Convention, hosted by the University in collaboration with the South African Strings Foundation (SASF) in March 2023. The event featured concerts, presentations, workshops, and the launch of the Journal of Southern African Strings, which was founded and edited by Bester.
The convention addressed the fragmentation of the Southern African strings’ community, institutional biases, and the exclusion of practice-based knowledge from scholarly discourse.
“To contribute to this discourse, Dr Mariechen Meyer, and I, through the SASF, commissioned ‘those who can’t sleep but still dream of dancing,’ a concerto for violin, uhadi, umrhubhe, and strings, co-composed by Matthijs van Dijk and Dizu Plaatjies,” said Bester.
Read the full story here: https://news.mandela.ac.za/News/Music-lecturer-honoured-with-prestigious-HSS-award
We are now a little over a week into our "Gqeberha Musical Advent Calendar 2024", and thus far the response has been heartfelt, and much appreciated. From the 1st to the 25th of December I will post a video on Facebook every day of unique and unknown Christmas music played by myself and the incredibly gifted @lynnegouws , Heidri Faber, @david.bester , @micksmeyer , Rudi Bower and @simoncameron04 .
The programme covers music from 23 different countries and over 600 years, and is performed in various permutations of our instrumentation.
The videos are also available on YouTube, the link to the playlist is in my bio.
#christmas #christmascarols #advent #adventcalendar #classical #recorderplayer #clarinet #violin #viola #doublebass #classicalguitar #percussion #southafrican #gqeberha
I'll be performing Mendelssohn's violin concerto with the ECPO this Sunday 🎻
You can still book tickets via Quicket (https://www.quicket.co.za/events/274806-a-spring-symphony/#/)
Hope to see you there! 😄
I'm proud to present my new, important work "fruit of procrastination".
Delving deeper than recent creations inspired by the same theme, notably the much loved "To Do List" series (nos 56-197 still occupy prominent positions on my desk), it centres the comforting embrace of warm, cinnamony oats. This not only symbolises radical defiance in the tyrannical face of PhD theory chapters, callously refusing to revise themselves, but is also a late breakfast 🥣
#phdlife #sendhelp #procrastination
I'm back! The rest of March will involve performing in 10 more concerts, launching the Journal of Southern African Strings, and hosting the 2023 SA Strings Convention with the @sastringsfoundation@mandela_music@mandelauniversity and @micksmeyer
This means making the most of every spare moment. Here I am working on working around a pernicious wolf on my D string before the teaching day starts.
