“Choose humanity.”
Those were some of the words repeated at Tutu House in Cape Town on Thursday as the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation launched its “TUTU95: United for Humanity” programme, ahead of what would have been Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s 95th birthday on October 7.
It is a simple phrase, but sitting in the room and listening to the speakers, it was difficult not to think about how complicated that choice can feel in the current climate.
South Africa’s headlines have been particularly heavy in recent weeks. Violence, division and a general sense of unease can make words such as peace, compassion and reconciliation sound almost idealistic.
"TUTU95: United for Humanity” is an attempt to consider what those values require in the present.
CEO of the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, Janet Jobson, spoke with gratitude and humility about the milestone.
“This is an incredible moment for us as a Foundation. Ninety-five years ago, outside Klerksdorp, Desmond Tutu was born,” she said.
Jobson described Tutu as someone who was “fully alive, vibrant, engaged” and committed to experiencing and sharing the fullness of his humanity with others.
It is easy for a word such as humanity to become abstract when it is repeated often enough. Tutu, however, did not regard it as an idea that existed apart from everyday life. His understanding of our humanity was bound to our relationships with other people and, with that, a responsibility towards one another.
“TUTU95 is grounded in his belief that our humanity is bound together and that dignity, justice, courage, compassion and reconciliation remain urgently relevant today,” Jobson said.
“As we approach the commemoration of his 95th birthday, TUTU95 asks us to look at the world around us and ask: what does our shared humanity require of us now?”
Her answer, she said, could be found in Tutu’s own example. “It asks us to see each other. It asks us to care for one another. And it asks us to act.”
The launch also offered a preview of how that message will be carried through music and performance.
TUTU95 programme launches alongside WOMAD South Africa 2026, the 10-day celebration of world music, arts and dance taking place across Cape Town from September 15 to 24. The festival brings together local and international artists, with the Desmond Tutu United 4 Humanity Peace Concert forming one of its central events.
The concert takes place at Artscape Theatre on September 19 and will bring together artists from South Africa and around the world.
The programme includes musicians, dancers and performers from countries including the UK, Spain, Austria, New Zealand, Italy, Sweden and Estonia alongside South African artists and the Yellowwood Primary School Choir.
At the launch, those attending were given a taste of what that international collaboration can sound and feel like.
Watching artists from different parts of the world perform in the same space, the distinctions between language, geography and cultural background seemed less important than the emotions being communicated.
There was music, movement and rhythm, but there was also a sense of exchange: one artist offering something of their world and an audience responding to it.
It was a tangible demonstration of the argument behind the programme. Art does not require everyone in a room to share the same history or language before it can create a point of connection.
That idea sits comfortably alongside Tutu’s own legacy.
“These times call for courage,” Jobson said. “The courage to hope, insisting that we can become something more beautiful, even in these incredibly dark times. The courage to heal, asking each of us to do the very hard work of keeping on trying to find each other across the divides that threaten to divide us.”
The foundation is also taking the TUTU95 message beyond the concert stage.
A collaboration between the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, Pick n Pay Clothing and South African designer Gavin Rajah will see three limited-edition T-shirts made available at Pick n Pay Clothing stores.
The United 4 Humanity Peace Concert forms part of a wider WOMAD programme that places cultural exchange at its centre.
Artscape describes this year’s festival as a celebration of heritage, humanity and global collaboration, with performances taking place at venues including Artscape, the UCT Baxter Theatre and the V&A Waterfront Amphitheatre.
With the Peace Concert, international performances and the clothing collaboration, TUTU95 will carry the Archbishop’s message into a series of public events in the weeks leading up to October 7.
For the foundation, the 95th anniversary is therefore being marked not only by remembering Tutu, but by putting the values he spoke about into practice through music, art and opportunities for people to come together.
bernelee.vollmer@nationalmg.co.za