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projects ongoing

Kunzwana.net is not only intended as an online archive of past cultural activities but also as an inspiration and resource base for ongoing and future projects. This is in the best sense of Keith Goddard's work and legacy. The drive for cross cultural dialogue and exchange, for promotion of cultural diversity and development is more relevant then ever before. The ongoing projects are calling for support and participation.

The TONGA.ONLINE project in Binga district / Zimbabwe + Sinazongwe district / Zambia

For the Tonga people like me, there is something deeply biblical about the word MULONGA, yet it is a modern story too. One of massive but unshared technology. One of plentiful water but perpetual drought." (Dominic Muntanga)

 

Kunzwana # 1

"KUNZWANA comes from the Shona word nzw(an)a which means
‘listening, hearing and understanding one another’." - Keith Goddard

CONCEPT  

Kunzwana # 1 is both a musical journey and cross-cultural collaboration featuring some outstanding and innovative Austrian musicians with their Zimbabwean counterparts.

As a kind of prelude the Austrian artists will visit the group Simonga in the village of Siachilaba in the Binga area along the Zambezi River.  This encounter aims to recognise the traditional Ngoma Buntibe music as highly appreciated musical art form / Tonkunst of the Tonga people, and highlight it again as a source of inspiration.  From there the Austrian artists will take some more impressions and ideas along on their journey to Harare.

At the Book Café in Harare the quartet from Austria will meet some outstanding and open-minded Zimbabwean musicians for an extensive exchange. They will retreat for an intense rehearsal phase with a focus on Mbira music and its derivative forms such as Chimurenga and Mbira-inspired contemporary music styles.  Such dense and creative interaction will result in the formation of the cross-cultural Kunzwana # 1 ensemble, striking a balance between different styles and cultures and ready to excel in performances at the Book Café and Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) 2014, and other venues in Southern Africa.  Further joint performances at music festivals in Austria in July 2014 are already in the pipeline.

Zongwe FM: transmission improved

A team of AZFA delegates led by Peter Kuthan, AZFA Chair person, visited Sinazongwe in Zambia's Southern Province from the 20th to the 31st of July 2013 to render support to the Community Radio station Zongwe FM. The radio experts Marcus Diess and Mario Friedwagner installed a 500watt-transmitter, replacing the old one (with 100watt only). Zongwe FM’s transmission radius has now more than doubled the previous one in a bid to enhance a wider broadcasting coverage of the station at 105.0 MHz. They also dealt with all the faults in the studio in a bid to facelift it for a full operation and provided for some relevant training.

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.

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