AZFA

Time's Up for Tales of Resilience - Itinerant Story Telling/Story Building in Southern Africa and Austria in 2014

Often it is an individual experience – wrapped up as a story – which eventually allows the reception of a past, the comprehension of the present and the formulation of a future. Furthermore, or in fact precisely because of and through that - stories enable an insight into „The Other“ - a view of the other life, the other culture, the other approach or mindset. Apart from “The Other,” stories let us see “The Common”, similar values, familiar desires and kindred visions. Through listening to them and trying to understand them, stories make us more tolerant in our dealing with cultural differences and multiple identities, they bring us closer to each other and place the commonalities above the separations.

Tales of Resilience traces stories from people who travel and have traveled between regions, cultures and continents; people who move and have moved between their origins and other worlds. Tales of Resilience documents and shares their experiences, adventures and perceptions. The project archives what these people left behind them, what they have taken with them, what they collected and what they lost along the way. Whether forced to move or by their own volition, whether for reasons of family, politics, religion or livelihood, the stories are tales of resilience, the many ways in which people react to their circumstances.

Tales of Resilience is an itinerant Story Telling/Story Building project by a group of Austrian and Zimbabwean artists in April / May 2014. The outcome of this collaboration between Time's Up, Austria-Zimbabwe Friendship Association, Pamberi Trust, local artists and art institutions will be presented in Southern Africa and back in Austria.

KUNZWANA # 1 - take off to a musical journey and trans-cultural collaboration

Kunzwana # 1 is a trans-cultural collaboration of both musical storytelling and freely improvised music, in an exciting encounter between seven outstanding Austrian and Zimbabwean musicians which will unfold across the Southern African region through Harare and Johannesburg this April/May, and move on to perform in Europe later in the year.

KUNZWANA #1 - the artistic approach and line up

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KUNZWANA # 1 - a resounding success

All in all the Kunzwana # 1 concept proved to be not only feasible but also relevant as a valuable experiment of artistic trans-cultural encounter and collaboration of musicians from diverse backgrounds. At least in parts this has led to new forms and blends of music styles which caught the attention and curiosity of the audiences. It has also found wide coverage by the media not only in Austria. Eventually the project has gone far to challenge some stereotypes of African and so-called World music alike.

The combination of musical and other artistic forms of story-telling (Tales of Resilience, visuals, interface and new media) was well received and has been transgressing the boundaries of otherwise often segregated fields of art. Overall (in Southern Africa and Austria) the project has evolved in 6 workshops and rehearsals, 7 concerts of the full Kunzwana # 1 ensemble, 5 more concerts with some musicians only taking part, 3 openings of exhibitions or presentations of Tales of Resilience, plus some jam sessions or individual artists joining other groups or performances. What a range of activities conducted in a short period of time. (The mileage of the journey by minibus in Austria alone was more than 2500km!)

KUNZWANA # 1 in den Medien / media coverage

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Zusammenstellung: Peter Kuthan / ARGEZIM

Zusammenfassung: das Kulturaustauschprojekt Kunzwana # 1 hat aufgrund seines experimentellen und trans-kulturellen Ansatzes außerordentliche Aufmerksamkeit in den Medien wecken können und damit eine beträchtliche Reichweite erzielt. Speziell mit Hilfe der neuen Medien wurde die Kommunikation ständig sparten- und länderübergreifend geführt und die Inhalte erfolgreich an neue Akteure und deren Zielgruppen wie Festivals, Freie Radios, Musikszene, Kunst- und Kulturinitiativen herangetragen. Besonders geschätzt wurde offenbar der Mut zum Risiko in der künstlerischen Auseinandersetzung und das Aufbrechen von Weltmusik Klischees.

Die Instrumente der Medienkommunikation waren eine ausführliche Projektdarstellung, mehrere Presseaussendungen/Medieninfos, laufende mailings/updates, die individuellen und vernetzten Facebook sites der beteiligten MusikerInnen, insbesonders von Werner Puntigam mit seiner Fotoserie inter.views/werner.puntigam © pntgm; Konzertmitschnitte auf youtube bzw. soundcloud; mittelbar die PR der Veranstalter, die mit entsprechenden Texten/Infos/Fotos/files versorgt wurden; persönliche Medienkontakte und die websites www.kunzwana.net und www.mulonga.net

Im Gegensatz zur großen Aufmerksamkeit und medialen Resonanz, die das Projekt und die beiden Tourneen im Südlichen Afrika und in Österreich gefunden haben, fällt auf, dass die OEZA-NGO community hierzulande weit weniger davon Notiz genommen hat als zu erwarten wäre. So ist z.B. trotz laufender Zusendung von MedienInfo nicht einmal eine Terminankündigung, geschweige denn ein redaktioneller Beitrag im Südwind Magazin erschienen. Dasselbe gilt auch für den Besuch der Veranstaltungen. Dieser Befund sollte m.E. noch näher (z.B. auf der Plattform Medien & Entwicklung) reflektiert werden.