Salif Keita to Perform in Zimbabwe!
Yay! Yay! Yay! Salif Keita is coming to Zimbabwe. The Mali-born music legend will perform at this year’s Harare International Festival of the Arts.
We’re blown away, totally.
Sam and Owen buried in Harare
Sam Mtukudzi and Owen Chimhare who died in a car crash on Monday morning (15 March 2010), were laid to rest at Warren Hills Cemetery in Harare this afternoon.
Speaking at a service held earlier in the day, Sam’s mother said that she had been robbed of two sons. Her husband, music superstar Oliver Mtukudzi said that Sam and Owen were great children and never gave their parents too many headaches.
Many of those present, including some of the artists that Sam had worked with, broke down intermittently during the service and wept for their friend departed.
Sam Mtukudzi, Owen Chimhare to be Buried in Harare
Sam Mtukudzi and his friend Owen Chimhare will be buried side by side at Warren Hills Cemetery in Harare tomorrow.
The Mtukudzi family has decided not to bury him in their rural home so that he can be interred with his friend.
More about the burial arrangmements
Sam Mtukudzi is No More
Sam Mtukudzi (1988-2010)
Sam Mtukudzi is no more. The young music star passed away in the early hours of this morning on his way home in Norton from Harare.
He and his sound engineer Owen Chimhare both died on the spot when their car veered off the road along Bulawayo Road, in the Kuwadzana Extension area.
Carl Joshua Ncube takes piracy fight to the streets
Zimbabwean animator and graphics artist Carl Joshua Ncube will from this afternoon live on Harare’s First Street for a week to raise awareness of the seriousness of piracy and to convince Zimbabweans to buy original products to support the artists.
Amelia’s Inheritance
Filed under: Books & literature, Entertainment, Arts & Culture, News you won't find elsewhere, Other Entertainment, Topical issues
Amelia
Paperback 204pp, Lion Press, 2010
Zimbabweans are picky readers and even pickier book-buyers. Who can blame us, considering that a considerable portion of the literature that has been churned out over the last two decades has been about the Chimurenga or the more recent political conflict? In a country where professionals earn $100 a month, who really wants to spend $10 on a book about how bad Rhodesia was or how repressive the present regime is? We know all that already.
How refreshing then to come across Sarudzayi Mubvakure’s second and latest literary offering, Amelia’s Inheritance! Set mostly in Ian Smith’s Rhodesia, this is the story of Amelia Gruber, the daughter of a German immigrant man and a mixed-race woman of unknown parentage, who had been raised as an orphan. As a child, her peers mark her as an outcast, and perhaps this pushes her from the psychological and social fortress the White settlers built around themselves and allows her a glimpse of the rest of the world. Her father loses his wealth and dies a broken man, leaving the family to cope as best as they can as one of Rhodesia’s best kept secrets; the Poor Whites. Amelia’s mother loses her mind, and her younger sister elopes leaving Amelia to hold on to precious little else. Sisi, their maid, stays with her.
Speaking of secrets, boy are there plenty! The people she meets along the way seem to know a lot more about her past than they should, and it seems less and less a coincidence that they have come in to her life. Amelia is also learning about the wider world, she is crossing the racial and social barriers of Rhodesia. She makes friends with a Black activist. Through their relationship, we are reminded of a fact that doesn’t seem to get mention by other writers; that the dispossession of indigenous Black people’s lands by White Settlers did not end with the Pioneer Column but continued well in to the last days of that ignoble racist political system. Like I noted, Mubvakure doesn’t take up too much prose telling us what we know already. In a suspense-filled, pacy narrative, Amelia becomes part of the process to break down those barriers and the secrets of her past become unlocked in a stunning conclusion.
Mubvakure has marked her own territory on the Zimbabwean literary landscape. Amelia’s Inheritance reminds me of Dickens’ Great Expectations, Oliver Twist etc in that she has a hero whose circumstances are set to change as the mystery of their past unfolds. However, despite her many shortcomings, the most glaring being her poverty and the breakdown of her family, Amelia is hardly a passive subject to the whims of fate. And there may be a bit of Catherine Cookson in the style, too. But Mubvakure’s style is original and establishes her as one of the most exciting new authors on the scene.
Available through Lion Press Ltd’s website and their growing list of distributors worldwide, and the major online bookstores.
Eight hours of music, dance, and more to commemorate International Women’s Day
Its been 99 years since the first International Women’s Day was held in 1911 and this year, with the global United Nations theme: Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All, the world once again celebrates with thousands of events being held globally to inspire women and celebrate their economic, political and social achievements past, present and future. On the 8th March, a global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world, ranging from political rallies, business conferences, and government activities and networking events through to local women’s craft markets, theatrical performances, fashion parades and more. Read more
NAMA 2010 Winners Announced
Dominic Benhura receives the Arts Service Award on behalf of Tengenenge Sculture Community. Handing him the award is Oliver Mtukudzi while Bridget Gwangwava looks on.
Over thirty artists and groups from around Zimbabwe were last night presented with awards for excelling in various disciplines in the arts. The 9th Edition of the National Arts Merit Awards held at the 7 Arts Theatre in Avondale saw Dominic Benhura, Natalie Bradbury, Josphat Somanje and Hazvinei Sakarombe leading the pack among the award winners.
Amendment of NACZ 1985 Act and what it means for the creative industries
Elvas Mari
Notes from a presentation by Mr Elvas Mari, Director of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe.
Arts & Culture Indaba 2010, Harare, 18 February 2010
Since 1985 the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) has had District Arts Councils and board members appointed by the minister country wide. However since 1998 these structures have not been functional due to the lack of funding to sustain them. At both these levels, there were no administrative staff but rather volunteers, which is an ineffectual way of running a serious administration. The national board was made up of reps from the provinces and some outside the province. The Government could not afford allowances for all these district and provincial members so from 1999 when the first 9 member board was appointed, it did not reflect what was in the Act.
In terms of changes, there has been a suggestion to cut the number of board members from 20 to 11 in which 9 should come from area of expertise, e.g. tourism, legal and the artists and those who have helped in the development of Arts. The director of NACZ is not an ex-officio board member but in practice he makes decisions. Read more
Notes from Senator David Coltart’s keynote address [Arts & Culture Indaba 2010]
David Coltart
Minister of Education, Sports, Arts & Culture, Senator David Coltart, gave the keyonote address at the opening of the Arts & Culture Indaba in Harare this morning.
The Indaba gives a platform to exchange and improve ideas. Indaba came at a time when the government has just established the Arts and Culture Department. We would like to make sure Arts and Culture is not drowned in Education. We need to build a national consensus for culture and national policy which will reflect a multi faceted culture of Zim. Ministry assists parastatals to be able to stand on their own. Income raised must include payment for contributors so that artists see the benefit of their efforts. Read more
On The Zimbo Jam- Emeline Michel - Haiti's Queen of Song Set for HIFA 2010She has been hailed as the “Joni Mitchell of Haiti” and has catapulted to global renown with concerts and albums that have seen her recording and performing all over the Caribbean, Europe, North and South America. Recently she performed at Hope for Haiti Now - A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief. Now, Emeline Michel comes to Zimbabwe.
- Why We Don't SucceedWe received this in an email titled "Why We Don't Succeed" last week and found it quite hilarious. Are we really that bad that we think someone who is intelligent "akangwarisa" or that an extrovert is someone "akavhengedzera?" or even that someone who is free spirited is a "nzenza?" Hameno. Read on for more wild and whacky "Shona perceptions"...
- Power FM Top Twenty- 20 March 2010Presented by DJ Chilli (Hazvine Sakarombe) on Power FM. 10:00-12:00hrs, 20 March 2010 Position Song Artist 20 Battle Field Jordin Sparks 19 If We Ever Meet Again Timberland ft Katy Peri 18 Falling Underdog 17 Emperor’s State of Mind Jay Z 16 How Low Luda Chris
- Emeline Michel - Haiti's Queen of Song Set for HIFA 2010
- Zimbabwe Today
- Zuma should push for reforms before polls - Zimbabwe Times
- Minister says diamond officials not clean - Zim Online
- Chombo blasts Bulawayo over mayor's vehicle - New Zimbabwe.com
- Meet Zimbabwe's ugliest man - New Zimbabwe.com
- MDC Youth Assembly Petition - Nehanda Radio
- Shattered dream: the life of Sam Mtukudzi - postzambia.com
- Proweb, Wiphold sign MoU - The Herald
- Poaching: Zim probed by Interpol - Zim Online
- Chamisa awarded best student at UZ - Nehanda Radio
- ART seeks shareholders' nod for rights issue - The Herald