PROGRAMME
‘AFRICAN FEMINISMS GATHERING: SHIFTING POWER THROUGH FEMINISMS’
African Feminisms - Rights, Representation, Resources
Thursday 25 – Sunday 28 September 2025
Day 1: Shifting Power
Thursday, 25 September
A day of artistic exploration, thought-provoking speeches, and communal connection to launch feminist dialogue and imagination.
Time
Session
Description
Venue
16.30 - 22:00
Opening Moments: Voices, Visions & Welcome
The African Feminisms Gathering opens with an inspiring evening of art, dialogue, and connection.
The evening will begin with a guided walkabout of the exhibition Women’s Rights – A Tapestry of Perspectives, inviting guests to reflect on diverse feminist narratives through visual art. This will be followed by brief welcoming remarks from the German Embassy and the Goethe-Institut, setting the tone for the days ahead.
The evening will begin with a guided walkabout of the exhibition Women’s Rights – A Tapestry of Perspectives, inviting guests to reflect on diverse feminist narratives through visual art. This will be followed by brief welcoming remarks from the German Embassy and the Goethe-Institut, setting the tone for the days ahead.
Goethe-Institut
(Gallery & Auditorium)
(Gallery & Auditorium)
17.30
Keynote
The keynote address by Professor Pumla Dineo Gqola, titled African feminist imagination and/as world-making will offer critical insights to frame the gathering’s core themes.
18.30
Social
To close the evening, we invite you to an informal gathering with music, food, and the space to unwind and connect.
This shared moment sets the tone for the symposium: rooted in joy, community, and collective feminist action.
This shared moment sets the tone for the symposium: rooted in joy, community, and collective feminist action.
Day 2: Building Collective Power
Friday, 26 September
| A day of reclaiming knowledge, embodying healing, and building movements that shape feminist futures. |
Time
Session
Description
Venue
| 10.00- 16.00 |
Wikimedia Edit-a-thon: Reclaiming Knowledge, One Article at a Time
WORKSHOP
WORKSHOP
Wikimedia edit-a-thons are community-driven events where anyone can participate in creating, expanding, or improving existing Wikipedia articles or creating new ones.
In feminist and decolonial contexts, these edit-a-thons have become powerful tools to challenge knowledge hierarchies, amplify African women’s voices, and make feminist knowledge visible and accessible to wider audiences.
Wikimedia South Africa will be hosting a full day edit-a-thon with a specific focus on introducing newcomers to their ability to contribute to the knowledge available online.
No RSVP needed. Any and all are welcome no matter your level of experience. Everything is set up, you only need to bring your laptop.
In Partnership with Wikimedia South Africa.
Wikimedia South Africa will be hosting three online workshops to familiarise participants of the upcoming African Feminism Symposium with the wikipedia tool and providing some insight into how the Chapter works and how everyone can contribute to the sum of all knowledge in the digital domain. Anyone and everyone is invited to join and learn.
In feminist and decolonial contexts, these edit-a-thons have become powerful tools to challenge knowledge hierarchies, amplify African women’s voices, and make feminist knowledge visible and accessible to wider audiences.
Wikimedia South Africa will be hosting a full day edit-a-thon with a specific focus on introducing newcomers to their ability to contribute to the knowledge available online.
No RSVP needed. Any and all are welcome no matter your level of experience. Everything is set up, you only need to bring your laptop.
In Partnership with Wikimedia South Africa.
Wikimedia South Africa will be hosting three online workshops to familiarise participants of the upcoming African Feminism Symposium with the wikipedia tool and providing some insight into how the Chapter works and how everyone can contribute to the sum of all knowledge in the digital domain. Anyone and everyone is invited to join and learn.
Library Goethe-Institut
10.30 -
13.30
13.30
The Gathering:
African Feminist Rituals of Healing and Community with The Nest Space
INTIMATE GATHERING
African Feminist Rituals of Healing and Community with The Nest Space
INTIMATE GATHERING
Join us in a sacred gathering that celebrates the wisdom of African feminisms through ritual, healing, and story. Together, we will sit in a circle — weaving body, mind, and spirit together into a living tapestry of remembrance and renewal.
Through movement, we awaken the body.
Through breath, we soften the spirit
Through sound, we journey through the mind
Through story, we remember who we are.
This offering is both personal and collective — a call to honor the power of African female community rituals, and to reimagine healing as an act of courage resistance, resilience, and rebirth transformation.
"Come as you are. Leave nourished, connected, and carried by the voices of women who came before us, those who live within and around us, and those yet to come.”
Welcome, Introduction & Gentle Movement;
Guided Breathwork Practice,
Meditation & African Sound Bath Journey,
Storytelling, Guided Journaling & Sharing Circle on African Female Community Rituals
In Partnership with The Nest Space.
Booking is essential via The Nest Space. Booking link open from 12th September. The Nest Space Yoga Studio - Bookamat
Places are limited to 15 people. Contribution R250.
Through movement, we awaken the body.
Through breath, we soften the spirit
Through sound, we journey through the mind
Through story, we remember who we are.
This offering is both personal and collective — a call to honor the power of African female community rituals, and to reimagine healing as an act of courage resistance, resilience, and rebirth transformation.
"Come as you are. Leave nourished, connected, and carried by the voices of women who came before us, those who live within and around us, and those yet to come.”
Welcome, Introduction & Gentle Movement;
Guided Breathwork Practice,
Meditation & African Sound Bath Journey,
Storytelling, Guided Journaling & Sharing Circle on African Female Community Rituals
In Partnership with The Nest Space.
Booking is essential via The Nest Space. Booking link open from 12th September. The Nest Space Yoga Studio - Bookamat
Places are limited to 15 people. Contribution R250.
(23 7th Avenue, Parkwood)
11.00-
13.00
13.00
Claiming the web - Feminist Practices in the Digital Age
PANEL DISCUSSION
PANEL DISCUSSION
This panel explores feminist digital practices that reclaim narrative power through grassroots content creation, archiving, coding, podcasting, and cyber-activism. As digital spaces shape culture and power, access alone isn’t enough — true digital equity means being able to create, shape, and claim space online.
For African feminists, this involves challenging algorithmic bias, colonial content structures, and exploitative tech systems, while building safe, inclusive digital ecosystems. Central to this work is the power of women telling their own stories, documenting their realities, and imagining futures that reflect their full selves.
Speakers: Abacar Hiuane Abacar (Mozambique) & Delfyna Mateus (Mozambique), Ifrikia Kenguè (Republic of Congo), Nkem Agunwa (Ghana), Nobantu Modise (South Africa)
For African feminists, this involves challenging algorithmic bias, colonial content structures, and exploitative tech systems, while building safe, inclusive digital ecosystems. Central to this work is the power of women telling their own stories, documenting their realities, and imagining futures that reflect their full selves.
Speakers: Abacar Hiuane Abacar (Mozambique) & Delfyna Mateus (Mozambique), Ifrikia Kenguè (Republic of Congo), Nkem Agunwa (Ghana), Nobantu Modise (South Africa)
Auditorium Goethe-Institut
13.00-
14.00
14.00
Break
14.00-
15.00
15.00
Spotlight: Feminist Movement Building
Mariam Mohamad Hussein is Deputy Executive Director and Programs Manager at Hawa Feminist Collective, Somalia’s first youth-led feminist movement. She has mobilized hundreds of young women in feminist activism and leadership, focusing on empowering Somali women and girls amid conflict and displacement. Mariam will share insights from her work and experiences and engage in an exchange with participants.
15.00-
17.00
17.00
Building African Feminist Movements: Strategies, Struggles, and Solidarity
PANEL DISCUSSION
PANEL DISCUSSION
This panel highlights the dynamic evolution of African feminist movements and strategies that signal transformative shifts within African feminist organizing. It explores both the solidarities and tensions shaping the broader African feminist landscape. At its core, the discussion focuses on the “how” of feminist movement building—examining methods, coalition-building, intergenerational engagement, and the question of long-term sustainability.
Speakers: Françoise Moudouthe (Cameroon), Jessica Horn (Kenya/USA), Mariam Mohamad Hussein (Somalia), Monique Ilboudo (Burkina Faso)
Speakers: Françoise Moudouthe (Cameroon), Jessica Horn (Kenya/USA), Mariam Mohamad Hussein (Somalia), Monique Ilboudo (Burkina Faso)
Auditorium Goethe-Institut
17.00 -
17.30
17.30
Gallery Walkabout
Join us for a guided gallery walkabout of Women*s Rights – A Tapestry of Perspectives, an exhibition showcasing diverse artworks that explore African women*s rights, resilience, and creativity. The works highlight themes such as reclaiming indigenous knowledge, art as healing, everyday resistance, and economic independence, inviting reflection on how women challenge and reshape their realities toward justice and equality.
Day 3:
Building feminist Futures
Saturday, 27 September
This day focuses on feminist futures and economies addressing intersecting crises. Through art, activism, and dialogue, participants explore strategies for building just, resilient, and sustainable movements that respond to social, economic, and ecological challenges.
Time
Session
Description
Venue
10.00 -
14.0
14.0
Connected Landscapes: Beading as Collective Practice
WORKSHOP
WORKSHOP
Connected Landscapes: Beading as Collective Practice
This interactive workshop explores beading as a matriarchal, intergenerational practice rooted in African traditions of adornment, resistance, and storytelling. Participants engage in beading as a shared language of healing, memory, and connection—honoring womanhood and ancestral knowledge.
Through this collective act, personal and communal narratives are threaded together, weaving new visions of feminist futures.
The workshop is curated and implemented by Duduzile Mathebula. Space limited to 30. Please RSVP to hoaf@goethe.de (RE: Beading Workshop)
This interactive workshop explores beading as a matriarchal, intergenerational practice rooted in African traditions of adornment, resistance, and storytelling. Participants engage in beading as a shared language of healing, memory, and connection—honoring womanhood and ancestral knowledge.
Through this collective act, personal and communal narratives are threaded together, weaving new visions of feminist futures.
The workshop is curated and implemented by Duduzile Mathebula. Space limited to 30. Please RSVP to hoaf@goethe.de (RE: Beading Workshop)
Library Goethe-Institut
10.30 -
12.30
12.30
African Feminist Economies: Rethinking Value, Labor, and Justice
PANEL DISCUSSION
PANEL DISCUSSION
This panel explores how African feminist perspectives are reshaping economic thought and practice. It will examine how feminist economies challenge extractive systems by centering care work, community wealth, and ecological sustainability. Panelists will discuss strategies for resisting neoliberalism, valuing informal and unpaid labor, and building solidarities across movements. Through lived experiences and transformative visions, this session highlights how African feminists are crafting just, inclusive, and life-affirming economic alternatives.
Speakers: Crystal Simeoni (Kenya), Dr. Lebohang Pheko (South Africa), Marie Paule Djegue Okri (Côte d’Ivoire)
Speakers: Crystal Simeoni (Kenya), Dr. Lebohang Pheko (South Africa), Marie Paule Djegue Okri (Côte d’Ivoire)
Auditorium Goethe-Institut
12.30 –
13.30
13.30
Break
13.30 –
14.30
14.30
Spotlight: Artist Irene A’mosi
Angolan artist Irene A'mosi’s project This Character is a Woman highlights the lives and struggles of Angola’s zungueiras (informal market women). Using video, performance, and installation, A'mosi addresses issues like state violence, femicide, and police targeting of these women. Central to the project is a 20-kilogram dress made from used rodilhas (cloth head rings) collected from the women themselves, symbolizing their resilience and resistance. The work invites reflection on the literal and metaphorical weight these women carry, challenging romanticized views and reclaiming their presence in public memory.
Gallery
15.00 -
17.00
17.00
Polycrisis and Feminist Responses: Intersections of Resistance and Renewal
PANEL DISCUSSION
PANEL DISCUSSION
In an era of intersecting crises—climate collapse, authoritarianism, economic hardship, and armed conflict—African feminisms are advancing urgent and transformative responses. This panel explores how feminist movements confront systemic violence and democratic erosion through ecofeminist action, mutual aid, and cross-border solidarity. The invited speakers will share strategies of resistance and renewal grounded in justice, care, and collective power.
Speakers: Adenike Oladosu (Nigeria/ Germany), Benedicte Bailou (Burkina Faso), Marilyn Muthoni Kamuru (Kenya)
Speakers: Adenike Oladosu (Nigeria/ Germany), Benedicte Bailou (Burkina Faso), Marilyn Muthoni Kamuru (Kenya)
Auditorium Goethe-Institut
15.00 - 16.30
Nkisu: Reading & Discussion
With Actor Spaces
READING
With Actor Spaces
READING
Join us for a vibrant session where the teenagers of Actor Spaces bring to life Nkisu—a comic series produced by the House of African Feminisms (HoAF)—through a live reading and interactive discussion.
Nkisu unfolds the story of a teenage girl navigating life at the African Feminist Academy. This coming-of-age narrative tackles themes such as period poverty, sex education, intersectional feminism, gender norms, and feminist culture, combining uplifting storytelling with meaningful insights into teenage experiences and feminist ideas.
Following the reading, the young performers will lead a discussion, inviting the audience to engage with the comic’s themes, share interpretations, and reflect on how feminist concepts resonate in their own lives. It promises to be an enriching space where storytelling meets dialogue, fostering understanding and connection across generations.
Open to all, with a particular focus on teenage participants.
Nkisu unfolds the story of a teenage girl navigating life at the African Feminist Academy. This coming-of-age narrative tackles themes such as period poverty, sex education, intersectional feminism, gender norms, and feminist culture, combining uplifting storytelling with meaningful insights into teenage experiences and feminist ideas.
Following the reading, the young performers will lead a discussion, inviting the audience to engage with the comic’s themes, share interpretations, and reflect on how feminist concepts resonate in their own lives. It promises to be an enriching space where storytelling meets dialogue, fostering understanding and connection across generations.
Open to all, with a particular focus on teenage participants.
Library Goethe-Institut
17.15 - 17.45
Gallery Walk
Join us for a guided gallery walkabout of Women*s Rights – A Tapestry of Perspectives, an exhibition showcasing diverse artworks that explore African women*s rights, resilience, and creativity. The works highlight themes such as reclaiming indigenous knowledge, art as healing, everyday resistance, and economic independence, inviting reflection on how women challenge and reshape their realities toward justice and equality.
Gallery
20.00 -
22.00
22.00
Film Screening
The Bioscope and the Goethe-Institut invite you to an evening of cinema showcasing films by African women* filmmakers. Through powerful visual storytelling, these films explore the realities, challenges, and future visions of women* across African societies, offering unique perspectives and inviting reflection and dialogue.
The Bioscope
(44 Stanley)
Tickets available via Quicket (Free entrance)
(44 Stanley)
Tickets available via Quicket (Free entrance)
Day 4: Shifting Power
Sunday, 28 SeptemberA day of small-group reflections to co-create and imagine feminist futures.
Time
Session
Description
Venue
10.00 -
14.00
14.00
Threads we carry forward -
Mapping Feminist Tomorrows
Mapping Feminist Tomorrows
In this intimate closing session, participants will gather in small groups to reflect on what has resonated most over the past few days. Each group will focus on a theme drawn from the gathering, with space to imagine feminist futures - both practical and visionary.
Together, we’ll shape takeaways and to-dos - ideological, strategic, or creative - to carry forward beyond the gathering.
Only on RSVP – limited places. hoaf@goethe.de (Re: Feminist Tomorrows)
Previous attendance at some of the Gathering sessions is required for participation.
Together, we’ll shape takeaways and to-dos - ideological, strategic, or creative - to carry forward beyond the gathering.
Only on RSVP – limited places. hoaf@goethe.de (Re: Feminist Tomorrows)
Previous attendance at some of the Gathering sessions is required for participation.
Lang de Moun Mon
(Observatory)
(Observatory)
