BUSSIN Collective

BUSSIN Collective is a pilot project organised by Dr Geetha Reddy and Research Administrator, Ope Olusoga. Dr Geetha Reddy visited Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as well as Cape Town and Durban, South Africa in August and November 2024 respectively with the intention to create a research collective who will aid the development of decolonial, transnational Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR) methodology that will then feed into the external grant bid.

Members of the South African BUSSIN collective gathering for team lunch at La Perla Restaurant, Cape Town

Members of the South African BUSSIN collective gathering for team lunch at La Perla Restaurant, Cape Town. Credit: Lucelle Bernadette Pillay.

The aim of this collective is for the co-researchers to develop a multi-year and international research project dedicated to imagining free-er futures for marginalised communities and working together to realise these imaginations.

The collective meets virtually once a month to participate in open discussions and connects with like-minded people within and between the diaspora. Open discussions can become spaces that offer many lessons in listening, voicing out, and sitting with discomfort. They are “brave spaces” where contestations and (over time) resolutions take place. During these collective meetings, we advocate for and negotiate the fundamental values of our collective, in particular, and community-building efforts more generally. We discuss our research interests and use these insights to develop external grant applications.

Members of the South African BUSSIN collective: (from left) Suntosh R. Pillay, Dr Zuleika Bibi Sheikh, Dr Subashini Gordon, Dr Lucelle Bernadette Pillay, alongside principal investigator, Dr Geetha Reddy

Members of the South African BUSSIN collective: (from left) Suntosh R. Pillay, Dr Zuleika Bibi Sheikh, Dr Subashini Gordon, Dr Lucelle Bernadette Pillay, alongside principal investigator, Dr Geetha Reddy. Credit: Lucelle Bernadette Pillay

As of now, we are a collective of 36 archivists, artists, academics, activists, policymakers, and NGO staff and we are deeply honoured to be in community with you. All collective members have been working together in various capacities over the last 16 months.