THE TONGA AT AMAKOSHI & ZIBF 1997
Big Meetings
At the Amakhosi Cultural Centre on 2nd August and at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair from 7 to 9 August, Simonga will perform the music of the bontibe which acts as a daily newspaper, warning the community against evil and exposing people involved in wrongdoing.
Joining the KUNZWANA Project at ZIBF will be the travelling exhibition on the Valley Tonga of Zambia and Zimbabwe entitled Batonga Cross the Waters. The exhibition was initiated as a project between two nations by Stephen Williams, Director of the National Art Gallery in Bulawayo and Grazyna Zaucha, Curator of the Choma Museum in Zambia. After the untimely death of Stephen Williams in July 1996, Grazyna Zaucha has continued the project. The theme is "death and continuity" which refers not only to the death of the valley and the continuity of Tonga culture but also to the death of an important force behind the exhibition and the continuity of his ideas.
The novelty of this project lies in not being simply a visual display but also an aural and aromatic exhibition as well. In addition to seeing and feeling the texture of objects, you will hear the sounds and smell the aromas familiar to people in the Valley Tonga area. You can also taste the light Tonga wine.
The theme of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair in 1997 is Libraries and the theme of the Great Indaba is Access to Information. On the KUNZWANA stand in the Mayor's Garden will be books written in Tonga which have been published both in Zambia and Zimbabwe and a report on the first Tonga dictionary being compiled by the Kizito Pastoral Centre in Monze, Zambia.
At the Internet Cafe, the public will have access to the KUNZWANA web page which displays details about the history of the Valley Tonga Cultural Project, the partners involved, general information about Tonga music, photographs and other matters relating to Valley Tonga life and culture.
the webpage can be viewed at http://www.servus.at/argezim
Dates for the Big Meetings:
Saturday 2nd August:
Amakhosi Cultural Centre, Bulawayo
Thursday 7th to Saturday 9th August:
ZIBF, Open-air Stage, Harare Gardens, Harare, Zimbabwe.