HIFA is a six day annual festival and workshop programme that showcases the very best of local, regional and international arts and culture in a comprehensive festival programme of theatre, dance, music, circus, street performance, spoken word and visual arts.
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Press & MediaContact UsThe HIVOS Spoken Word Programme – Celebrating African Expression!
Curated by poet Chirikure Chirikure
Engagement is about communication, involvement, awareness and empowerment. It is about hearing each other speak. The HIFA 2011 Spoken Word programme provides a platform for engagement, to stimulate dialogue through the celebration of African expression. Spoken Word practitioners from across Africa, from Malawi, Botswana, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Zimbabwe as well as a guest artist from Denmark.
Saturday is a special dedication to the late great Zimbabwean poet, Julius Sekai Chingono. On each of the other days, the programme focuses on a different theme, featuring different languages, styles, rhythms and patterns, poetry, prose, chants and soulful music. Each performer has the liberty to interpret the themes in their own way. That is the hallmark of dialogue, of free expression.
The artists are:
Ngwatilo Mawiyoo from Kenya, Quaye Kojo – Sir Black – from Ghana, Pitika Ntuli and Ewok, both from South Africa, Q. Malewezi from Malawi, T J Dema from Botswana, Morten Søndergaard from Denmark, and our own Daniel Mandishona, Valerie Tagwira, Nevanji Madanhire, Mgcini Nyoni, Bhekusa Moyo, Thanda Richardson, Blackheat deShanti, Linda Gabriel, Aura, Upmost, Mbizo Chirasha, and as a special guest, Outspoken.
Duets which combine Spoken Word and Music are presented by Phillip Svosve (saxophone) with Aaron Yafele (trombone), Charles Chipanga (marimba) with Namatai Mubariki (voice), while Clare Nyakudyara, Steve Chikotie and Andy Brown will all present pieces combining guitar and voice.
Ngwatilo Mawiyoo
A keen observer and devoted student of the written word, Ngwatilo Mawiyoo’s first book of poems “Blue Mothertongue”, published last year, is a collection set in Nairobi and the African diaspora. It explores the themes of home, loss and healing. Critics praised the work, describing it as “crafted with beautiful pace and intelligence” that it is “a worthy testament of her times.”
Ngwatilo has achieved serious acclaim and been dubbed “a priest of the art of performed poetry”. She presents her work at festivals across Africa and Europe and in 2010 she performed here in Zimbabwe and in Malawi on a tour that formed part of the 14th 2010 Poetry Africa Festival held in South Africa, run by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It is the biggest festival of its kind on our continent.
She also performed last year in Germany at the Frankfurt Book Fair. In her performance work, Ngwatilo sometimes experiments with the capacity of music, dance and video to read and tell, both to complicate and to simplify poetry, calling these techniques “Puesic” – pronounced pew-zic.
Qabaniso ‘Q’ Malewezi
Qabaniso Malewezi, also known as Q, was born in 1979, and set off on his creative journey in theatre and music in high school. He went on to study performing arts at the prestigious Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) whose patron is Sir Paul McCartney, and later at the Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) in London.
Though the focus of his training was primarily music, Q’s appreciation of the spoken word led to his own experimentation with poetry writing. He took to it, demonstrating serious talent and his poetry performances, titled “Sonrise” soon followed. These earned high acclaim and launched his career as a spoken-word artist.
His poetry is delivered in vivid, heartfelt verbal bursts which are interwoven with subtle humorous undertones. Thus, Q invite his audiences on an artistic journey. Using humour, and incorporating reflections on spirituality and life’s day to day experiences, Q’s message is one of hope. He explores burning societal issues and endeavours to give a voice to unheard and often marginalised communities.
Daniel Mandishona
Daniel Mandishona was born in Harare in 1959. He was brought up by his maternal grandparents in Mbare (then known as Harari Township). Expelled from Goromonzi Secondary School for what the headmaster called ‘habitual truancy’, he lived in London from 1977-1992. He first studied Graphic Design and then Architecture at the Bartlett School, University College London. He began writing in 1982 after reading Dambudzo Marechera’s House of Hunger.
His first short story, ‘A Wasted Land’ was published in Contemporary African Short Stories (Heinemann, 1992). Daniel was published in Writing Now (2005) and Laughing Now (2007). His short story collection, White Gods Black Demons is due out with Weaver Press.
Bekumusa Moyo
Born in Gwanda, Beku
musa Moyo completed his education at Nkulumane High School, where he discovered his talent for poetry. In 2006 he won the Power In the Voice Poetry Competition and was the country’s representative to the International Festival in 2008.
He was the youngest published poet in the poetry anthology “Its Time” edited by Ndaba Sibanda for Writers Get Together. Numerous poems of his have been published in the Sunday News Poetry Corner and other Publications and his has an album of performance poetry titled ‘Moments of Madness” under his belt. This is raw protest poetry.
Alice ‘Thanda’ Richardson
Alice ‘Thanda’ Richardson is an explosive young vocalist on the local Zimbabwe music scene, known for her passion and energy for dancehall reggae and ragga – what she calls “a fusion for the youth of the 21st Century”. In 2009, she performed in Harare and Denmark with hip hop group, Bikstok Rogsystem, and with youth festival Umoja. Thanda composes her own songs and is working on her debut album, Give Thanks And Praise, which features Only Jah, Jah He Knows - already an anthem among her fans.
Mbizo Chirasha
Mbizo Chirasha was born in 1978 in Zvishavane District and was inspired by his social surroundings at a young age. As a young man, Mbizo quickly gained prominence as a performing poet and writer both in Zimbabwe and internationally. The themes of his poetry include children’s rights, politics, social lives, gender issues, praise and protest, culture and African pride.
Mbizo’s poems can be read in print, but are even more powerful when performed by the dynamic poet himself. With a vision of using his poetry to promote peace, healing, stability, and cultural freedom, Mbizo is a poet with commitment, talent, and a desire to perform whenever and wherever he can.
Aura
20 year old Aura’s pursuit of a career in music seemed an obvious choice given her home life: “It’s kind of always been with me; even before nursery, my parents pushed me straight into it,” she states. While at college in her second year, her father was retrenched so fees could not be paid. Since then she has been the bread winner in her family. “The funny thing is that the money I make is out of doing what I love the most, which is the performing arts,” she says.
Aura started writing poetry at the age of 12, and as she grew older, realised poetry is not about words but about what you are saying. “I have a stronger message and I come across clearer now than I did when I was younger,” she explains. As for the themes within her poetry, her response is simple; “Love, love and love. Love for me is a fascinating topic because it’s not all roses and blue violets. There is a lot to love, and not just emotional or romantic love but platonic love – friendships and love between parents, other relationships”.
Regarding her music, she states, “I always say music is my husband. If music were a man, I could have had an arranged marriage a very long time ago. Music has influenced my poetry. I will also pay close attention to the way people, eat, walk and behave.”
Looking to the future, Aura says, “I want to see an opportunity to influence my people, I want to see an opportunity where my voice can be heard not just by a group of people at the Book Café but where artists are taken seriously and realise that we are voice that can be utilised. That we can make a lot of difference because the first thing a person will do when they jump into their car is switch on the radio and they will hear us before they hear the news.”
She continues, “There are a lot of people my age who want to make a difference in our country. We all want a better country. I think as a country we need to start realising that we have so much potential and that we are literally one of the greatest countries in Africa.”
Thanks to kubatana.net for the use of inputs from their interview with Aura.
Morten Søndergaard
One of a golden generation of Danish poets, Morten Søndergaard is as versatile as he is memorable. Having gained renown across Europe and the US for his organic adaptation of poetic form, his output over the last several years has been varied and remarkable. His humorous, sensory poetry is a major contribution to this art form in Northern Europe.
“I approach poetry and the world by making the two phenomena collide, and then see what happens,” he says, describing his creative process as the reaching of “an understanding of the world or myself by going on a detour through the language.”
Critics have observed in his work, a deliberate return to wide-eyed curiosity, and an observant humour. Søndergaard describes himself as being fond of scientific information and philosophical explanations of the world’s condition – of any intense attention to the things that surround us.
“Good poetry is an example of such intense attention”, he says. “As a child, you live with a wide-eyed curiosity, you see everything around you with open eyes and everything can go deep into you without filter. As a child, all senses are alert. The child is a scientist, shipwrecked, and a philosopher. As a child you discover that language is crucial. Poetry is language that require a particular kind of childish reading, a slow, intensely observant and playful reading. Just as you read the world when it was full of feelings of wonder.”
Nevanji Madanhire
Nevanji Madanhire, born 1961, has lived a varied life reflecting the restlessness of growing up in an amorphous fledgling Zimbabwe. As a teenager, during the war of liberation, most of his classmates ended up fighting on either one side or the other.
During the first two decades of independence he worked as a teacher, curriculum theorist, educational book publisher, public relations executive and a journalist.
He has published two books, Goatsmell, (1993) and If the Wind Blew, (1995) and was also published in Writing Still (2003).
Pitika Ntuli
Pitika Ntuli combines a vast store of African mythology and history, a keen awareness of the contemporary and an astonishing ability to improvise in his evocative poetry. A South African sculptor, poet, writer and academic spent 32 years of his life in exile in Swaziland and the UK. A Master of Fine Arts (Pratt Institute in New York) he also has an MA in Comparative Industrial Relations and Industrial Sociology.
While in exile in the UK he helped establish one of Europe’s leading poetry circuits, Apples & Snakes in London, where he also lectured in Fine Art and English Literature. He taught at Camberwell College of Art, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, the London College of Printing, Middlesex University and the University of East London. Since returning to South Africa he has taught at The Universities of Witwatersrand and of Kwa-Zulu, Natal (UKZN), and is currently a professor at Tshwane University of Technology.
He has exhibited in several individual and group exhibitions in many countries in Europe and in the USA, and has organised numerous international art and cultural events in Britain. His sculptures are in several collections and some of his public sculptures can be found in the Swaziland National Bank, Matsapa International Airport and St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Lobamba.
Pitika Ntuli is an expert in African indigenous knowledge systems. He is a regular political and cultural commentator on SABC 2. He is a well-known poet and speaker who has been a keynote speaker at numerous high profile events and has read his poetry in many fora.
He was the main organiser of the KwaZulu-Natal Millennium Parade and a key figure in the African Renaissance Annual Festivals in Durban. A frequent guest on TV and radio, he was also a judge for the Sunday Times Literary Awards (2009). He recently chaired the 2010 Task Team that advised the Minister of Arts and Culture with regard to cultural programmes associated with the World Cup, including the opening and closing ceremonies.
While in London he also worked closely with Amnesty International and Index-on-Censorship. Ntuli sits on several boards including the Universal Creative Arts and Artists for Human Rights. Pitika Ntuli has performed his poetry with leading musicians like the late Dudu Pukwana, Mervin Africa, Julkian Bahule, Lucky Ranku and Eugene Skeef.
BancABC Day, Tuesday 26 April, $6, 3 – 4 pm – Programme 1
Here we go! Opening the week of poetic celebrations, a taste of what’s coming.
Hosted by Chirikure Chirikure
Featuring: Pitika Ntuli, Valerie Tagwira, Bhekusa Moyo, Thanda Richardson, Namatai Mubariki and Charles Chipanga.
CABS Day, 27 April, $6, 3 – 4 pm – Programme 2
Theme – Rhythm in the voice – Celebrating the vibrancy of our diverse languages.
Hosted by Aura
Featuring Q. Malewezi, T.J. Dema, Quaye Kojo, Mgcini Nyoni, Mbizo Chirasha and Clare Nyakudyara
Stanbic Bank Day, Thursday 28 April, $6, 12 – 1 pm – Programme 3
Theme – Reflecting, expressing! Looking deep down the inner soul, with sincerity.
Hosted by Blackheat deShanti
Featuring Ngwatilo Mawiyoo, Pitika Ntuli, Quaye Kojo, Nevanji Madanhire, Mgcini Nyoni, Steve Chikotie, Morten Sondergaard
Lion Lager Day, Friday 29 April, $6, 4.30 – 5.30 pm – Programme 4
Theme – Future in our hands! The younger voices, mature now, gearing for tomorrow.
Hosted by Upmost
Featuring Ewok, Q. Malewezi, Bhekusa Moyo, Thanda Richardson, Blackheat deShanti, Clare Nyakudyara
Coca-Cola Day, Saturday 30 April, $6, 3 – 4 pm – Programme 5
Theme – Vende – Missing tooth! Tribute to Julius Sekai Chingono
Hosted by Linda Gabriel
Featuring Pitika Ntuli, Morten Sondergaard, Daniel Mandishona, Mbizo Chirasha, Aura, Phillip Svosve and Aaron Yafel
Alliance Insurance Day, Sunday 1 May, $6, 12 – 1 pm – Programme 6
Theme – Basa sebasa – My poetry is my job. Celebrating the worker!
Hosted by Chirikure Chirikure
Featuring Ngwatilo Mawiyoo, Quaye Kojo, Morten Sondergaard, Q. Malewezi, Upmost featuring Outspoken, Linda Gabriel and Andy Brown
HARARE - Take a charming black prince, add decadence and straight face, and you have an unforgettable time and twisted stories of a country. Mbizo Chirasha is an iconic performance poet who has earned himself the title ‘The Black Poet’. 
