​Africa Open – Institute for Music, Research and Innovation, in association with the Documentation Centre for Music (DOMUS, a Music Special Collections division of the SU Library and Information Service), celebrated the life of legendary accordionist and musician Nico Carstens with an afternoon of music and discussion on his life's work on Wednesday 23 November. Carstens passed away at the age of 90 on Tuesday 1 November.

Nico Carstens

Nico Carstens' son, Klem Carstens discussed the ongoing task of assembling an archive of his father's work with collaborator Paul Fouche and Stephanie Vos, a post-doctoral fellow at Africa Open. The archive was donated to DOMUS in 2012.

"What led to this [donating the archive], was that Oubaas's music was rotting away in garages. We realised we can't allow his music to simply be forgotten. I am and was extremely excited about the archiving of his music at DOMUS," he said. "The reasons for this include the possibilities of exposure to his music, and its availability for research. I believe it's the right place for his music."

Africa Open research fellow Dr Willemien Froneman also analysed the archive and provided the audience with glimpses into Nico Carstens' life by sharing what they had discussed in interviews.

"I work on my music every day," he told her. "Sometimes I wake up at three in the morning, and then I write music, because that's what I do – retiring is just not part of my soul or of my thoughts."

Afterwards, archivist and writer Rob Allingham played a selection of Carstens' records and gave the audience a brief history lesson on each song's significance within Carstens' greater discography. Songs played included 'Hasie' and the international hit 'Zambezi'.

This is the second event organised by the Interdisciplinary Forum for Popular Music, a project of Africa Open which was established in June this year.

"It's my vision for the interdisciplinary forum that it will really be a place where we collaborate between musicians, members of public, journalists, academics and people in the music industry – to discuss popular music in all its facets," said Vos. "With this Nico Carstens event, I really hope to put these ideals into actions." 

Photo: Paul Fouche (left) and Klem Carstens.