"The South African Composers Archive" was founded as a podcast series in 2019, hosted and curated by South African composer Matthijs van Dijk. In each episode van Dijk would ask the same eleven questions to a different composer, about their process and their craft, while including recordings picked by the artist, in an attempt to showcase and catalogue the incredibly varied musical languages South Africa has to offer. In 2021, the show evolved into an eclectic series for HamShack Radio, compiling multiple artists in each episode, with a focus on jazz, experimental, and classical music.
"For the Duration of This Cloud" is in many ways a spiritual successor to the series: a compilation album of new works written by young South African composers, from all walks of life, for clarinet, cello and piano, blending together classical, electronic, rock, and traditional Southern African music. Recorded live at Sound & Motion Studios, Cape Town, this album is made possible by the National Arts Council of South Africa.