The Book Cafe & Mannenberg, 12-20 December 2008
SPECIAL THIS WEEK
SAT 13, 2-5pm, SISTAZ OPEN MIC – Reflections 2008 & Resolutions 2009. Come on out Sistaz - This is UR space, come do UR thang! Song, Dance, Poetry, Whateva - An open mic platform for women artists, in the safety of daytime! - Register with Rudo B4 2pm on 793182, 792551.
A project by Pamberi Trust, supported by Hivos.
MON 15, 7pm, BOCAPA XPOSURE presents EDENE – R’n'B - young, funky, soulful, hip. A Pamberi Trust youth project supported by Hivos
WED 17, 5.30pm, LITERARY DISCUSSION – ‘BOOK OF NOT’ by Tsitsi Dangarembga. Speakers: Mandi Chikombero (Ohio Univ) and Josephine Muganiwa (UZ), chaired by Ruby Magosvongwe (UZ).
SAT 20, 2-5pm, BOCAPA XPOSURE OPEN MIC afternoon – your chance to shine! A platform for aspiring artists to show off their talent & potential. To perform, Register B4 2pm with Mandla. A Pamberi Trust Project supported by Hivos
SUN 21, from 6pm-1am – YOUNG ARTISTS UNITE on Unity Day Eve – A 7-hour spectacular featuring hot young groups on the block - Josh & Daniel Meck, Victor Kudakwashe, Reverb, Hope Masike, Tendai Manatsa, Chabvondoka!
MON 22 , BOOK CAFÉ & MANNENBERG CLOSED FOR UNITY DAY Read more
HIFA 2009 Call for Artists!
The Harare International Festival of the Arts is now accepting artist applications for the 2009 edition of the festival. HIFA celebrates its 10th anniversary next year and the internationally acclaimed festival is set to put on its biggest event ever.
Artists from all artistic disciplines are invited to apply. Forms are available from the HIFA website. (www.hifa.co.zw). They can also be collected from
- National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Marondera, Gwanda, Chinhoyi, Bindura, Mutare, Masvingo
- National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare
- The Zimbabwe College of Music
- Dance Trust of Zimbabwe
The deadline for artist form submissions is 29 December 2008.
HIFA 2009 will be held from 28th April to 3rd May.
Switching on of Christmas Lights, Sam Levy’s Village
Young children dressed in nativity constumes during the switching on of Christmas lights and singing of carols at Sam Levy’s Village on Friday 5 December 2008 (Photo: Jekesai).
Leander’s programme so far
The story goes on. There have been discussions going from midnight until now, below is summary of programmes that has been broadcast:
Midnight to 0500hrs
Music and important HIV and AIDS messages
0500 to 0600hrs
Reflections/Ndangariro/Siyakhumbula
There was a compilation of music in memory of those who have died as a result of AIDS. Leander was taking calls from those who lost their relatives to AIDS related illnesses, the he also gave a brief backgound of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe over the years dating back to 1984 when the first case was reported, bringing out how HIV was considered a death sentence, unavailabilty of ARVs, stigmatisation and discrimination
The Power Breakfast Show - 0600 to 0900hrs
The story continue with sharing of info relating to the key drivers of Zimbabwe’s epidemic issues like multiple concurrent partnerships(like small houese, intergenerational sex etc)
0900 to 1000hrs
The hour focused on “Zimbabwe Decline” highlighting some of the success stories resulting in the decline in HIV prevalence. There were also highlights on behavioural change, delayed sexual debut by young girls, uptake in VCT etc.
1000 to 1100hrs
Focus was on men and their responsibility in the face of HIV and AIDS. Professor Ezra Chitando helped explore this area.
1100 to 1200 hrs
The session highlighted the role of women in society as well as human rights for women versus tradition and culture. Also explored important role played by women in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
1200 to 1300hrs
The Voiceless Heard:
During the session there were testimonies given by listeners who are living with HIV and AIDS. Listeners were also phoning in.
1300 to 1400 hrs
There were pre-recorded messages and live messages from Zimbabwe’s best known personalities on the World Aids Day
1400 to 1500hrs
There was a discussion on HIV and AIDS in relation to migration…IOM (International Organisation for Migration) representatives talked so much about initiatives they are working on to help Zimbabweans.
1500 to 1600hrs
The Harare Junior council representatives are currently in the studio discussing HIV/AIDS and the youth.
Vakomana Vaviri veZimbabwe
Athol Fugard recounts the story of how he got a visit from some black actors in East London in the sixties. They wanted his help and support to put on the Greek play ‘Antegone’ by Socrates. This led to his continued involvement with the actors in the black township of New Brighton. The play had very strong resonance with the residence and people of South Africa at that time. Classical Greek plays by their nature are quite spare of props and lend themselves to staging in bare settings. However the real leap happened because of the persistent police harassment when one of the actors was arrested before he could perform in the play. He ended up in Robben Island. There he finally got to realise his ambition by putting on a performance for the prison warders at year’s end. This was a custom in the prison that prisoners put on a fifteen minute performance once a year. He chose to focus on Antegone’s speech to the King Creon. He knew the whole play by heart. He created a performance around the speech with another prisoner. This is the play ‘The Island’. So the play ‘Antegone’ transmuted itself into ‘The Island’. This, in the best sense of the word, is the ‘township’ theatre.
When I went to see ‘Vakomana Vaviri veZimbabwe ‘ at the Oval Theatre, London, I was excited and feverish looking forward to a Zimbabwean interpretation of Shakespeare, even though I was intrigued by the choice. The play begins at a minibus rank somewhere in Zimbabwe. Read more
Craft 08- Gift Ideas
27th October – 14th December 2008
New ideas are never in short supply when it comes to art and craft and this year the National Gallery of Zimbabwe is hosting the first ‘Craft 08 Exhibition’. An exhibition of local craft work comprising of unique ethnic necklaces, earrings, bangles, t-shirts, cushions, wooden works, authentic and symbolic African objects and regalia. The exhibition aims to bring together a variety of crafts people in one location so as to allow interaction and at the same time presents business for Christmas buying public. The gifts on sale are affordable, original and suite any taste. Read more
Tsitsi Dangarembga and the Greenies story
Tsitsi Dangarembga accepts a surprise gift at the IIFF closing ceremony on Saturday evening (29 Nov)
When Tsitsi was a little girl she joined the Brownies. Her young sister Rudo was upset that she too could not join as she was still too young.
Tsitsi came up with an idea. She would start a new group called the “Greenies” which her little sister could be a part of. So she told all her friends about this new group and had them pay 10 cents to join. Read more
Hope’s songs of redemption
The Making of a Unique Band
“By the rivers of Babylon I sat and wept,” thus sang the long- suffering Hebrews in their time of Babylonian captivity. They found themselves singing God’s song in a strange land. But though the song speaks of tears, it is actually a song of hope and redemption. The very act of singing it meant that the singers had in actual fact symbolically freed themselves. And, in these turbulent times we live in, we need songs and singers with enormous emotional power that can heal our grief, assuage our anxieties and allow us to hope for a better future. Hope Masike neKakuwe have it in them to do just this and more.
Hope, second from left, and members of Kakuwe
The dream and vision to form Kakuwe was born long before Hope decided to enrol at the Zimbabwe College of Music. Born with music in her blood, an independent feisty spirit, Hope was always someone who marched to a different drum, and so it was not surprising that when she decided to take her music seriously, she wanted to form a unique band with a different sound. Read more
International Images Film Festival Launched
Harare rapper Misfit performs at the launch of the International Images Film Festival, at Vistarama, Avondale in the capital on 21 November.
The festival is, this year, themed “Enriching Women” and will showcase 55 films from around the world.
:: Full story on the launch
:: List of films
Why it was a Sacred Concert to remember
Scores of people of various ages and hues braved Harare’s sweltering heat on Saturday, 8 November 2008, to join the celebrations to mark 200 years of the abolishment of slavery with a performance of Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts by the 50 strong Zimbabwe College of Music (ZCM) Choir and the Trio Arctic Band. The versatile and awe-inspiring Zimbabwean diva, Prudence Katomeni- Mbofana held the solo soprano reins.
The performance was a unique collaboration between the ZCM and their Norwegian counterparts courtesy of The Culture School of Fredrikstad as well as FK Norway. Each year three lecturers from ZCM go to Norway to guest lecture in an exchange programme that sees three Norwegian lecturers making the trek to Zimbabwe. This year’s trio, Tone Jordhus Søvik (saxaphone), Brith Løkken (trumpet) and Klæboe Eyvind Helseth were at the forefront of organising the concert. Linda Gjersoe Helseth (trombone) flew all the way from Norway to be part of this groundbreaking performance. Read more
On The Zimbo Jam- Alick Macheso- Lucky Guitarist or Musical Genius?By Memory Chirere Although many Zimbabwean music lovers are agreed that Alick Macheso is the King of Sungura, the Zimbabwean brand of Rhumba, that is as far as the agreement will go. As Masimba Kuchera admits in an article on the Chesopower website, ‘there have been many schools of thought on the (real) strength of Macheso- some arguing about his skills with the bass guitar, some contending that it is his vocals and others proffering his dancing skills, it is generally agreed that the musician is of immense talent.’ When people agree that you are extremely talented but go on to debate hotly about exactly whether your strength lies in theway you walk or the way you run, then that is a mark of genius. You actually put people in a crisis of naming aspects of a phenomenon.
- A Dance Farewell for Isabel MatolaBy Ruvimbo Hope Masike Here is one of the most beautiful things about Zimbabwe. It is inimitably Zimbabwean. We Zimbabweans love peace, of course, among other things. We love fun, joy and we are naturally celebratory people even when there isn’t much to celebrate about. For instance young children jump around joyously chanting “Ndege! Ndege!” when an aeroplane passes over them. Now when there is something worthy of the celebration, the joy is electric, understandably so, considering how almost everything else around us is seemingly dull and confusing and uninspiringly so. As a result, when Isabel Matola’s Mozambique Dance Festival came by, it turned out to be one of the brightest lights in town, which was a well deserved acclaim.
- Kanda Bongo Man Lands in Harare With One Guitar[Herald] France-based rhumba maestro Kanda Bongo Man had just one guitar when he set out to perform at the Harare International Conference Centre on Wednesday evening, and his day was saved by a local musician who offered him his instruments on the 11th hour to avert what could have turned out to be an international disaster.
- Alick Macheso- Lucky Guitarist or Musical Genius?
