The University of Cape Town’s IBuyambo ensemble presents Fragments of Sarah, an interdisciplinary performance that reimagines the life and legacy of Sarah Baartman through sound, movement, memory and embodied storytelling. The production is directed by Thabisa Dinga, Nomapostile Nyiki, Keketso Bolofo and Bronwen Clatcherty.

Taking place on Friday, 16 October at 19:00 in the Baxter Concert Hall, Fragments of Sarah enters the silences within the historical record. Where written history leaves gaps in Sarah Baartman’s own voice and experience, the production uses music, movement and poetic expression to imagine an inner voice – inviting audiences to encounter Sarah not only as a historical figure, but as a woman with memory, dignity, longing and agency.

Sarah Baartman’s story continues to resonate in the present. The performance reflects on the ways women’s bodies remain subject to scrutiny, judgement, objectification and control, as well as the continued silencing of women’s voices and the struggle to define one’s own identity.

At the heart of Fragments of Sarah is an act of listening: listening to what history preserved, what it omitted, and what it left unresolved. The performance does not seek to recreate the past, but instead creates a space to consider the voice that history did not preserve.

Through music, movement and embodied storytelling, Fragments of Sarah gives expression to experiences that were overlooked, distorted or spoken for by others. Memory becomes something that can be revisited and reimagined, creating space for silenced voices to be heard and for presence and dignity to be reclaimed.

Presented by the UCT IBuyambo ensemble, the performance brings together different artistic forms to connect historical memory with contemporary experience. Fragments of Sarah invites audiences to consider not only how Sarah Baartman has been remembered, but also whose voices are heard when history is told – and whose are left out.