Tribute to the Legendary Rashid Lombard

Tribute to the Legendary Rashid Lombard

“Artists give people something they didn’t know they were missing.” – Daniel Pink

The jazz photographer and political photojournalist, Rashid Lombard, gave custody of his archives to the University of the Western Cape in April 2022, with intentions to have them digitised and to initiate an accessible photography centre. These archives consisted of more than 500 000 photographs that Lombard had made since the early 1960s, which were thus artworks that had been done over 50 years. The photographs consisted of musicians and significant music events, high-ranking political figures, political protests and everyday moments of life under apartheid.

Lombard worked for the BBC, NBC, AFP and a number of progressive publications such as “Grassroots” and “South”, with his work being part of exhibitions all over southern Africa, including the University of Zimbabwe in 1983 and the Staffrider exhibitions of 1984 and 1985. Being a member of the “Vukalisa” artists’ collective, he was involved in the promotion of community-based cultural activities.

As the CEO of espAfrika, an events management company which he started in 1997, Lombard was responsible for staging the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, formerly known as the North Sea Jazz Cape Town. The Cape Town festival was an offshoot of the North Sea Jazz Festival that is held annually on the second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Rotterdam Ahoy venue. The festival moved to Rotterdam in 2006 following the demolition of the Statenhal in The Hague where it was originally hosted, and it is currently referred to as the NN North Sea Jazz Festival, since 3 November 2017.

For this initiative, Lombard was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver by the South African Presidency, for “his excellent contribution to arts and culture and his dedication to promoting jazz music that has put South Africa on the map for many jazz enthusiasts around the world”. According to the South African Presidency, Rashid Lombard “played a pivotal role in conceptualising, strategising and implementing the marketing strategies for the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. He was the organiser behind the positioning of South Africa through the arts in the North Sea Jazz Festival, Cape Town.”

The festival became the premier jazz festival in the country and was able to build a reputation for excellence in the world. Under his leadership, Lombard ensured that communities in the peripheries were also benefiting from the Cape Town International Jazz Festival’s Training and Development Programme. This training was helping children from disadvantaged communities to discover their creative side through dance and music. In 2013, more than 100 orphaned and previously disadvantaged children from two non-profit organisations, “Lalela Project” and “Where Rainbows Meet”, enjoyed the show entitled “My African Beat.” The show was family-oriented and catered for ages three to 10 years.

Indeed, as the renowned African-American historian, columnist, novelist, poet, artist and editor, Aberjhani, said, “To create art with all the passion in one’s soul is to live art with all the beauty in one’s heart”, Rashid Lombard was one such artist.

May His Revolutionary Soul Rest in Eternity🙏🏾.

Sources:
Wikipedia.
Sinenhlanhla Masilela, “Honouring Rashid Lombard: The South African Photographer Who Shaped the Jazz Scene”, Independent Online, 4 June 2025.
The South African Presidency, “Rashid Lombard: National Order of Ikhamanga in Silver”, 2014.

Castro Khwela
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