The Arches in Glasgow is set to host a club night celebrating Mandela Day this Friday, July 18, with DJ and producer Auntie Flo and South African act Fantasma performing. The event, organised in conjunction with The British Council’s Connect ZA programme and Creative Scotland, is part of an annual worldwide series of events which celebrates the legacy of Mandela on the date of his birthday. Mandela Day, now in its sixth year, is a UN initiative which aims to inspire individuals across the globe to follow in Mandela’s footsteps and change the world for the better.
Auntie Flo, who originally hails from Glasgow, brings his self-styled Afro-futurist take on club music to The Arches. As a DJ, producer, and now label boss (having set up the Highlife label last year), Auntie Flo has established himself as one of the most prominent champions of African music in the UK’s electronic music scene. He has recently contributed to the Autonomous Africa project, a series of releases set up by JD Twitch of Glaswegian duo Optimo to raise money for African charities. Fantasma is the project of South African musician Spoek Mathambo, which sees him joining forces with various other South African musicians, bringing the township tech sound to a global audience. Mathambo is one of South Africa’s most heralded musical exports of recent years. Since releasing his debut album four years ago he has released on both independent labels such as Sub Pop and majors such as Sony, and has been nominated for best African act at the MOBO awards for three consecutive years. Full details and tickets are over on The Arches’ website.
