After a deeply resonant first equinox gathering on March 20th, Breathing Sound returns to the Sufi Temple for a second evening of listening, rest and shared presence. Participants described the previous gathering as a rare moment of stillness in the city — a space where sound, breath and silence could be experienced without rush or performance.

As we move deeper into ukwindla (autumn) in the southern hemisphere, this next gathering continues the invitation to soften, pause and listen inwardly. In many wisdom traditions, autumn is a time of gentle release and reflection. The pace of life slows, the light shifts, and nature begins its quiet movement toward rest. Breathing Sound honours this seasonal rhythm through an immersive sonic environment where the body is invited to fully relax.

The evening begins with tea and quiet arrival before entering the temple space. Participants are guided into gentle breath awareness and grounding, followed by an unfolding field of live sound including flutes, mbira, cello, acoustic strings, tabla, percussion, voice and ambient textures.

As the music gradually dissolves back into stillness, the gathering closes in shared silence before tea and reflection.

Breathing Sound is a collective listening space where breath and sound becomes a pathway to rest, clarity and presence.

What to Expect

• Guided breath awareness and grounding

• Immersive live sound journey

• Flutes, mbira, cello, acoustic guitar, bass, tabla, percussion, voice and ambient soundscapes

• Deep listening within the resonant domes of the Sufi Temple

• Herbal tea served before and after the session

• Space to rest, reflect and connect afterwards

Participants are welcome to lie down on yoga mats with blankets, allowing the body to fully rest while the sound unfolds.

Chairs are also available for those who prefer to sit.

Event Details

Date: Saturday 25 April

Venue: Sufi Temple – Cape Town Centre for Unity, Newlands

Arrival & Tea: 19:00

Temple Doors: 19:30

Journey Begins: 19:45

Duration: approx. 2 hours

Space is intentionally limited to maintain the intimate nature of the gathering.

The previous Breathing Sound gathering sold out quickly. Early booking is recommended.

Facilitator

Sisonke Papu (KHNYSA) is a multidisciplinary artist, breathwork facilitator and initiated traditional healer (iGqirha) from Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. His work explores the intersection of breath, sound, ancestral memory and contemplative listening. Through PHILA Holistic and collaborative sonic practices, he creates immersive environments that invite deep presence, nervous system restoration and reconnection with the wisdom carried in the body.

Collaborating Musicians:

Gabriel Sieff

Raised among the fynbos mountains of Cape Town, artist, musician and composer Gabriel Sieff creates work rooted in ritual, storytelling and deep listening. His practice explores the spaces between sound, memory and landscape, inviting audiences into contemplative sonic environments that gesture toward new ways of being and listening. Through layered instrumentation and intuitive improvisation, Sieff’s music opens quiet spaces for reflection, resonance and collective presence.

Kamil Kamil Adam Hassim

Kamil Kamil Adam Hassim is a transdisciplinary artist and researcher working at the intersection of art, frontier science and indigenous knowledge systems. His work investigates how unseen forms of information — physical, cultural and social — are encoded and made perceptible through instruments, networks and cultural paradigms.

Hassim has undertaken residencies with several major scientific institutions, including CERN and leading astronomical observatories across South Africa such as SALT, SARAO, MeerKAT and the Square Kilometre Array. Through these collaborations, his artistic practice engages cosmology, particle physics and Afro-Eastern knowledge systems to translate abstract scientific processes into embodied sensory experience.

Lilavan Gangen

Cape Town-based multi-instrumentalist Lilavan Gangen is a percussionist whose work draws from a wide range of musical traditions spanning Africa, Latin America and the Indian subcontinent.

A graduate of the South African College of Music at the University of Cape Town (BMus Jazz Performance), Gangen has performed across jazz, pop, orchestral and contemporary ensembles. Raised in an Indian household, he maintains a deep connection with Indian classical music and has studied the traditional South Indian drum Mridangam in India.

Alongside his work as a percussionist, he is also a vocalist and teacher of Indian vocal music within the local community. These diverse influences converge in his distinctive rhythmic language and richly textured percussion setups.