Germany supports preservation of cultures
The German Embassy has made available an amount of 53 000 euro (approximately N$960 000) for the documentation and preservation of cultural practices of the HaMbukushu and VaManyo communities in the Kavango East region.
German ambassador to Namibia Herbert Beck and the Arts Foundation of Kavango (AFOKA), represented by Mukoya Edward Diyeve and Joseph Mukoya, recently inked an agreement concerning the documentation and preservation of cultural practices of the HaMbukushu and VaManyo communities in Kavango East.
AFOKAA will receive approximately N$960 000 to carry out this project until 2024. “It is a realisation of measures that will ensure that what remains before its disappearance is documented so that these cultural materials remain an integral part of village life and the intergeneration transmission chain it is not broken.
The critical safeguarding measure is through the research and documentation of the traditional crafts, music and dances practices of ethnic communities,” Diyeve said during the signing on 7 March.
“This time is now to undertake a comprehensive documentation of what remains,” he said.
Diyeve indicated the project aims to preserve the traditional practices of craftsmanship skills, music and dance of the Gciriku, Shambyu and Mbukushu ethnic communities through the research and development of books, including audio-video materials (DVD format), based on previous field work done from 2018 and 2020 by the Arts Foundation.
“This also allows the cultural practices to be documented for future generations and transmitted to them,’’ Diyeve noted.
“The project is funded through the cultural preservation fund of the Federal Foreign Office. Since 1981, Germany has supported the preservation of cultural heritage in developing countries and of German cultural heritage abroad as part of the Cultural Preservation Programme of the Federal Foreign Office,’’ said the German ambassador.
“As part of this programme, Namibia so far received one million euros for the preservation of cultural heritage since 1985,’’ he said.