Celebrating Manicaland’s artistic heritage: Local group receives US$33k grant
A local arts group, Manicaland Attached Instruments and Dance Exploration (M.A.I.D.E), was recently awarded a US$33 000 grant for an arts research project.
M.A.I.D.E is comprised of Charlton Torindo, Joseph Sithole and Kudzai Gwaze.
The group is upbeat that it will fully explore traditional dances and instruments that originated in Manicaland.
The project — CreativeACTIONs 2 (202325) — is the brainchild of Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust, in collaboration with the European Union.
Among other objectives, the project seeks to preserve cultural dances, instruments and sounds from Manicaland, create cultural samples and loops for music and film producers as well as to archive history on high quality visuals and audios for future use.
Every district in Manicaland has its own eccentric dances such as Zhana (Makoni), Jaka (Buhera), Muchongoyo, Mhongo, Chokoto (Chipinge), Mangoni (Mutasa), Njekunje (Nyanga) and Chidzimba/Chimaisiri (Mutare).
In an interview with Manica Post Entertainment this week, Sithole said:“We have already set the ball rolling and we expect to be done by December this year. As the Manicaland Association of Creative Arts, we want to come up with a documentary and record all these eccentric dances and unique sounds from the vocals, traditional instruments, props and costumes.”
He added: “We will explore different types of traditional dances and ethnic sounds as well as different instruments in the seven districts of Manicaland. We will explore the production of the costumes and instruments.
“We will also explore the dance patterns and drumming techniques used in different areas as well as exploring the symbolism behind the dance, music and fashion in relation to their culture.
“We want to highlight women’s dominance in singing and challenge the modern society to accept women in entertainment circles as was accepted in our culture. We also want to explore the impact of women in our culture and the pivotal roles they played in the production of costumes and instruments as well as playing them (instruments),” he said.
Gwaze chipped in:“Our culture is slowly being relegated to the dustbin of history and it is our duty as artistes to revive it and make sure that it is well preserved for future generations. This project will also assist learners and students from primary, secondary and tertiary institutions to know and understand our cultural heritage.”