Features Writer
ONE of the objectives of the Ndau Festival of the Arts, held in Chipinge during September, is to bring together local, regional and international academics in Ndau cultural experiences to promote and preserve the language.
As a result of the desire to ensure that the language continues to be enriched, the symposium, which for the first time this year was part of the festival, will run concurrently to the festival annually.
The festival was held in two parts, with the first being made up of a symposium held at Chikore High School, a day before and then the main festival, the following day.
The two-day event attracted participants beyond the immediate geographical area when Ndau language is the mother tongue.
After the Ndau Festival of the Arts (NdaFA), held in Chipinge over a month ago, planning is already underway for a similar event next year.
In activating plans for next year’s symposium, the belief is that this component of the NdaFA annual celebrations will grow and attract local, regional and international academics as the organisers aim at sharing cultural experiences with everyone “in this global village”.
“We shall have another symposium next year, sending the call for abstracts well in time to attract presenters from all over the world,” explained Dr Elias G. Konyana from Great Zimbabwe University, who has been a board member of the Ndau Festival of the Arts since its inception in 2013.
Dr Konyana is a native Ndau speaker.
“This year we decided to introduce a symposium or short conference to the annual festival celebrations. I’m glad to share with you the relatively success story of this dimension of the NdaFA annual event.”
The inaugural symposium was themed UN Decade of Indigenous Languages, 2022-2032: Mainstreaming the Ndau Language, which was also this year’s theme for the main event, the festival.
It was held at Chikore High School September 23 and it attracted a number of academics from Great Zimbabwe University namely Dr Elias G Konyana, Dr T Muyambo and Professor F Sibanda.
From Bindura University of Science Education came Professor Charles Pfukwa; while from the Midlands State University was Dr. M. Sipeyiye.
From Jersey Primary School was Farai C Mlambo, while Chipangayi High School had F Mutanda and Phillip Kusasa from Paiyepo Arts Development and Heritage Centre, were some of the participants.
A symposium is a platform for brief but significant presentations and discussions on a topic or issue of common interests.
“It goes without doubt that we all have the preservation and promotion of the Ndau culture in Chipinge, around Zimbabwe and beyond as our NdaFA agenda.
“The symposium was significantly huge from the perspective of the broad scope of papers presented as participants took the whole day during presentations, discussions and interrogations of the various aspects of the Ndau language.
“All the papers presented generated interesting debate around the advancement, promotion and elevation of the Ndau facets of life such as language, culture, heritage, history and civilisation,” explained Dr Konyana.
The papers will be developed into full chapters of a book project to be published shortly. Two books were launched, one entitled Independent Museums and Culture Centres in colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe: Non-State players, local communities and self-representation (2022).
Thomas Panganayi Thondhlana, Jesmael Mataga and Dawson Munjeri edited it.
In this book, Phillip Kusasa, Dr Elias G Konyana and Professor F Sibanda penned a chapter titled “Cultural restoration, self-representation and community development: A case of Paiyapo Arts Development and Heritage Centre,” which chronicles the birth, development and expansion of NdaFA since 2013.
The second book was Nhapitapi DzeChiNdau: An anthology of Ndau poetry written by F C Mlambo. The anthology is a rich collection of Ndau poetry inspired by the lived cultural experiences of the Ndau people.
Thus, this symposium platform presented various speakers with an opportunity to share experiences and expertise in indigenous cultural issues with specific reference to the Ndau language, culture and heritage.
To this end, short abstracts were invited for submission for the presentations on the sidelines of this year’s edition of the Ndau Festival of the Arts (NdaFA) held on September 24.
The abstracts were draw from the following sub-themes, among others:
Ndau language, culture and heritage;
• Ndau language, culture and ethics;
• Ndau language, culture and women leadership;
• Ndau language, culture and heritage-based education;
• Ndau language, culture and indigenous knowledge systems;
• Ndau language, culture and climate change;
• Ndau language, culture and disaster management;
• Ndau language, history, identity and civilisation;
• Ndau language, culture and pandemics;
• Ndau language, innovation and entrepreneurship;
• Ndau language, arts/ creative arts and entrepreneurship;
• Ndau language, innovation and development;
• Ndau language, culture and food security; and
• Ndau language, culture and health.
Caption 1. The Ndau Cultural Heritage Centre being built in Chipinge.
Caption 2. Some of the participants at the symposium. Dr Elias G Koyana (left), F C Mlambo, Dr T Muyambo, F Matanda, Professor Charles from Bindura University of Science Education, and M Jenya.
Caption 3. Dr Elias G Koyana, chairing a session during the symposium.
Caption 4. Dr T Muyambo during his presentation.
Caption 5. F C Mlambo presenting during the symposium.
