Bongeziwe Mabandla
BTS & Concert Photography
Concert Photography
2026 Switzerland
Photography: Yohana Papa Onyango and Tanja Kapahnke
At Kulturfestival St. Gallen, Bongeziwe Mabandla and Ailton José Matavela stepped onstage under unusual pressure. Rehearsal time had been cut short and Bongeziwe’s long-time collaborator Tiago Correia-Paulo was absent.
Backstage, the nerves were real. At one point Bongeziwe laughed: “Damn, why did I choose to do this with my life?”
“Ukuba awuzingeni nzulu, ayisoze ichukumise.” Bongeziwe Mabandla
We followed the tension until it broke. What began backstage as uncertainty stepped into the light, carried by Bongeziwe and Ailton into trust, instinct and movement with the crowd.
Bongeziwe sings largely in isiXhosa. Most of the audience may not have understood every word, but they understood the feeling—a reminder that music often connects before language does.
