Mandinyenya’s mission to revive African culture
POET and writer Takaedza Godfrey Mandinyenya says he has embarked on a project themed African Lounge Poetry aimed at restoring the “true” African culture and its beauty.
Mandinyenya told NewsDay Life & Style that the project’s main goal was to pool different poetry writers across Africa to tell their story without bias which is not tainted by the Western culture.
“The complete view about Africa Lounge Poetry is not just about poetry, but it is a movement where we try to tell what Africa represents, the beauty about Africa, the beauty of the African culture and not just the downfalls,” he said.
“Through Africa Lounge Poetry, we also want to express our identity as Africans and why it scares people. We also need to express to what extent our culture as Africans is important.”
The project will be launched next month.
Mandinyenya said Africa had a lot of untold stunning stories which remained hidden unless one visited the continent.
“The only narrative you will hear being told about Africa is mainly that of political tensions, corruption, dictatorship, but there is the other beautiful side of Africa that has remained colonised and biased by the Western culture,” he said.
“We have natural resources and I think it is only in Africa where you see animals in their natural habitats without being disturbed by humans. I believe poetry will drive this home since it can explain the intended message in a simple and artistic manner which can be easy to grasp.”
Added Mandinyenya: “So our aim as Africa Lounge Poetry is to drive the beauty of Africa using poetry so that those who love poetry can really see what we mean when we say that Africa is beautiful.
“It is important for the African culture to be spread among Africans so that they can learn and embrace their own culture without praising alien cultures. It is sad that sometimes you will discover that as Africans, especially Zimbabwe, we might mirror what the Americans do.”
Mandinyenya believes that the Africa Lounge Poetry project is going to bring positive results.