Sibusiso Lundi Mnyanda is an author, historian, broadcaster, and Head of Curatorial Research at Victory of the Word (VOW), an organisation conceived by artist Athi-Patra Ruga to preserve and revive the archive at the Lovedale Press. Born in Alice in the Eastern Cape—the very landscape that would become central to his intellectual project—Mnyanda holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Fort Hare and currently an Honours candidate in Historical Studies at the University of Cape Town(2026).He is the 2026 A4 Arts Foundation Library Artists in Residence. Mnyanda seeks to understand Lovedale as more than a colonial institution, reframing it as a dynamic site of ‘iconoclash’ that inadvertently laid the foundations of black South African modernity. This library residency placed a particular focus on photographic studio portraiture from the period, as well as paintings by 20th-century black artists.
In general, his work explores the intersection of colonial history, black intellectual traditions, African Christianity, and the political economy of knowledge production. He is currently reading towards a book project titled The Gospel according to the Press—Lovedale as a Black Archive, which examines the resilience and renewal of Lovedale College and Printing Press in Africa’s liturgical history. Extracts from this project have appeared in the multiple platforms, including work on Tiyo Soga, Benjamim Tyamzashe and Joh Knox Bokwe as a pioneer African journalist and linguist. Mnyanda has contributed extensively to South Africa’s leading publications, including the Daily Maverick, Daily Dispatch, Herald,City Press and online platform Notedman.com. His academic work has been presented at conferences including the UKZN Teaching and Learning Conference, the UCT Steve Biko 30/30 Conference, and the SACO Conference on cultural policy and innovation.
His career spans the non-governmental, business, and higher education sectors, the Nelson Mandela Institute for Rural Education and Development, the Music Publishing Association of South Africa, and the Eastern Cape Provincial Arts Council.