Up spoke a clergyman
and he soothed the men
with these words:

Stay calm, my countrymen
calmly face your death
for this is what we came to do

We will drill the death dance
we will die like brothers
we are the sons of Africa

Raise your war cries
our voices will be left with
our bodies

And the men took off their boots
and the deck of the ship drummed
with the sound of their feet
stamping the death dance

And the vessel keeled over
and sank to the bottom of the sea.
_______________________________

Animation and video. Wendy Morris. 2017. 1’40”
Music / sound design : Yannick Franck

Poem:
‘Ukutshona kuka-Mendi’. S.E.K Mqhayi. 1927
Performed in Xhosa by Bulelwa Nosilela

Song:
‘Uhulumeni’. Nimrod Makanye
Performed by the Bantu Glee Singers 1931.
HMV Recordings H.M.V GU 76

Voices:
Wendy Morris
Cathal Lagan
Fred Khumalo
Warona Seane
Rob Mitchell

‘The legend is out there’ is part of the six-film installation,
‘This, of course, is a work of the imagination’.