Wednesday, May 11, 2011

seek yee not the kingdom of politics/His Excellency ,Charles Ray

THe food for thought project is growing in leaps and bounds , it started as a small event , that was only to be attended by,
readers and students who come to the library and education advise , but now it have grown into a taljk of the town among diplomats ,philosophers , intellectuals , orators , poets , writers , politicians, media and others.
Tuesday the 10th of may was a memorable day to the people of zimbabwe , when the ammbasador gave his insight about the culture of voluntarism as he proved to be aworth diplomat , adviser and parent , he argued that voluntarism speak volumes in personality cleansing , mental development of this generation , it brings comunity consesnsus , cultural togetherness and provide space for people to express their love and feeling to socities.
The Ambassador gave an insight to those who felt politics can voluntarism , he gave a strong sense responsibitlity , aszimbabweans we mustnt seek and invlove our lives in filthy politics , but fight to develop ourselves , our identity , our talents , our abilities as people , which is strong statement that work to remind those who live their lives for others to live their own lives.
The programme was attended by peopple from different facets of lives , among writers was Masimba Biriwasha ,Dolorosa Mubvumba from Street wise Projects , Virginia a well known writer ,Black bird a widely reknowned female rap artist , Jessie manjome , a member of parliament .
the ambassador closed b y saying that he takes voluntarism as his lifestyle , and it is individual priority as a a person to take upon voluntarism , for voluntarism do not need a lot of resource , a mind that is mature and a heart that is responsible. I really have learnt a lot of things from the Ambassador.Lastly the event was spiced by a poem by one Thando sibanda , a young and vibrant poet from Zimbabwe , who gave a moving poem called [These are the other words] , the poem touched on various issues of life , politics and religion and other . The Ambassador is a writer , an orator and a poet.
by
mbizo chirasha
perfomances poet/writer/live literature producer
www.mbizopoetry.blogspot.com
wwww.poetrychatroom.blogspot

THE MAGIC OF CARL JOSHUA NCUBE

If you see this unique artistic magician you think you are meeting a banker , an accountant or marketing officer of a big corperate , because of his cooperate outlook , smile and stature. carl joshua ncube is a professional nurse cum film maker /nyami nyami fame cum adiminstator cum commedian, carl acquired his fame when he took the reins of curating and producing the NAMA WARDS for morethan 2 years .He is well known for his powerful administrative and management skills.
Carl has grown into a big artist and proffesional creative personna in zimbabwe and abroad , on his last press conference , carl gave wide insight on his world tour which first of its kind to be done by a Zimbabwean in such a unique way . Carl said for preparatory and logistics accomodation he was sponsored by the NEW ambassador hotel in HARARE and the Director of the Hotel Mr Gary Webbstock confirmed that they sponserd Carl project because his mission is to be the artistic ambassador of Zimbabawe who is going to sell Zimbabwean Brand using culture/intertainment , creatiivity and arts.
Carl is starting his tour in Bulawayo on thursday , to Botswana in Selebi pikwe , Zambia where he is perfoming at a higly powerd wedding , Uganda , London , Austrilia and other countries, in Uk Carl is going to perfoma at arts cafe , stand up commedy nights and other events , his administrative team is juiced with proffesional ,one among them is rufaro who is his graphic speciaslist , his media specialist is wild fire events and his international public relations personna is taponeswa mavungwa.
Carl said he is also going to give cultural exchange , arts diplomacy and market zimbabwe as a destiny, He said ZTA was supportive to his endevours through othersd means of networking ,that give much confidence to identify himself with zimbabwe in his tour, hethanked all who helped him in developing the talent including the media , wildfire events , Zimbabwe Germany society , other commedians , artists and Rainbow Towers.
lastly the managing director of new ambassador hotel conccurred with carl that ,"zimbabwe is going to be a hotspot of tourism and hub of unique african exprience if it can marketed very well thorugh arts and culture and new ambassador hotel is prepared to prop the zimbabwean brand using arts as, he said selling zimbabwe brand is not only bringing artists but sending our own to the world"

Thursday, May 5, 2011

KUBATANA.NET ENJOYED THE VERSES OF THE BLACK POET

Poems are bullshit unless they teach


‘The Engagement Party’ is this year’s (2011) HIFA theme. The HIVOS Spoken Word Programme on Wednesday 27, April took time to engage Zimbabweans celebrating African expression as they listened to poems being recited by poets from Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi and Ghana. The theme for the day was, “Diversity in our Voices”. The occasion wouldn’t have been a success without the colourful and wonderful audience. Not only was expression done in poetry, but in song too, as witnessed by the performance by Zimbabwe’s beautiful jazz singer Claire Nyakujara.

Mbizo Chirasha, The Black Poet, was the first poet to perform. The themes of his poetry consist of children’s rights, politics, social lives, gender issues, praise and protest, culture and African pride. He took us on an expedition of the African names from the King Jaja of Opobo to Chaminuka with his poem was titled, ‘African Names’. Another local poet who performed was, Bhekumusa Moyo. He has several of his poems published in the Sunday News Poetry Corner and other publications. On this day he took to the stage two of his poems titled, ‘A poetic crusade’ and ‘This hand’.

Power to the sisters hey! T J Dema from Botswana was the only female poet who performed on this day. I must say her poems are truly engaging as she tackles life issues with her African voice. She performed ‘Neon poem’ and ‘First born Lullaby’. An extract from ‘Neon poem’ reads:

Poems are bullshit unless they teach
They serve absolutely no purpose unless they reach
The audience they are written, the ears they are meant for

Q. Malewezi from Malawi well known as Q, delivered his poem in heartfelt verbal bursts interlaced with humorous suggestions. He managed to invite the audience on an artistic journey in his alphabetic poem, ‘Journey to Q’. One would think it’s a journey of his life but no, he dwelled on all the issues in Africa in alphabetical order (A-Q of course) in an artstic manner, which was just superb. The other poem he performed was ‘Recycling Politicians’.

Quaye Kojo known as Sir Black from Ghana delivered the last poem. He tackles poetry more on a thought provoking note. During his performance he got inquisitive as he threw questions here and there to engagea the audience. Below is a quote from one of his poems:

If vegetarians eat vegetables
What should humanitarians eat?
~ Humanity in diversity~

To end the programme singer Claire Nyakujara showed her diversity by performing three songs one in Shona, Ndebele and English.

To listen to more of the poetic engagement do make a date with The HIVOS Spoken Word at the HIVOS Poetry Café.

Saturday (Coca-Cola Day) – 3-4pm
Sunday (Alliance Insurance Day) – 12-1pm

HIFA ENGAGES HARARE STREETS THROUGH POETRY


Tuesday, May 3, 2011

MBIZO ENGAGED WITH HAMUTYINEI AT HIFA SPOKENWORD FEST 2011


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By Richmore Tera and Rumbidzai Mashinge
THEATRE buffs are in for a treat when "Rituals", a play by award-winning playwright Stephen Chifunyise and produced by Daves Guzha, takes centre stage at the Standard Theatre as part of the ongoing Harare International Festival of the Arts today.
Show-goers will not rue parting with their US$6 to watch the play that until recently was on a tour of Zambia.
The tour, that ended on April 22, saw the cast holding 100 successful performances.
In the play, Chifunyise fuses drama and dance to depict community-initiated rituals of healing and reconciliation.
The star-studded cast of Mandla Moyo, Zenzo Nyathi, Silvanos Mudzvova, Chipo Bizure, Joyce Mpofu and Rutendo Chigudu makes "Rituals" a must-see production.
The play comes to Hifa courtesy of Rooftop Promotions, one of the leading theatre powerhouses in the country.
Rooftop Promotions has produced internationally acclaimed shows that have toured all over the world and have done outreach programmes with plays advocating peace, healing and reconciliation among other issues.
The play will be staged tonight at 9:15 at the Standard Theatre.
Tonight's performance is the last at this year's event after the premiere yesterday.
There will be free DVDs of the play for those who attend the two shows.
Meanwhile, various poets from the Sadc region and abroad are set to illuminate the "Spoken Word" slot of the festival, sponsored by Hivos in conjunction with Banc ABC, this afternoon.
Running under the theme "Rhythm in the Voice", the segment will feature the likes of Zimbabwean poets Mbizo Chirasha, Valerie Tagwira, Nevanji Madanhire, Bhekusa Moyo, Quaye Kojo (Ghana), Pikita Ntuli (South Africa) and Morten Sondergaard (Denmark), among others.
"Poets will be celebrating the vibrancy and diversity of languages. The slot gives a sense of inter-regional engagement of poetic voices from all over the world and this helps to bridge the gap among these countries.
"It gives a sense of communion, it is not only a diversity of languages but also a cross-pollination of thoughts and situations as well as a diversity in cultures," said Chirasha, one of the poets.
Chirasha said he was going to integrate his performance with some pieces by the late legendary Shona poet, Mordecai Hamutyinei.
"I am going to perform some of his poems that have got to do with the theme of engagement. He was a very outstanding poet, with a catalogue of poems that spoke a lot on issues to do with the African set-up.
"By so doing I am engaging society on issues they face everyday," said Chirasha.
The "Spoken Word" will continue tomorrow between 1-2 pm under the theme "Reflecting, Expressing!" with the likes of Ngwatilo Mawiyoo, Pikita Ntuli, Quaye Kojo, Morten Sondergaard and Nevanji Madanhire doing their recitations accompanied by music from afro-jazz artiste Steve Chikoti.
Friday will be for the "Future in Our Hands" featuring both the young and old voices in the genre, while Saturday will be a tribute to the late poet Julius Chingono.
The closing day will see "Spoken Word" running under the theme "My Poetry is My Job" hosted by renowned poet Chirikure Chirikure.