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2005 Radio Chikuni concert - culture with a different spell
By Mazuba Mwiinga
The word culture comes from the Latin root colere meaning to inhabit,
to cultivate, or to honor. In general, it refers to human activity.
In instances where different definitions of culture are met, they
reflect different theories for understanding, or criteria for valuing,
human activity. But even so it still comes back to the tastes in art
and manners that are favored by a social group.
Culture is traditionally the oldest human character, its significant
traces separating Homo from australopithecine, and Man from the Animals,
though new discoveries are blurring these edges in our day.
And one of those new discoveries is in the lines of Radio Chikuni
concert. Just as Joseph Conrad defines culture as ‘a highly developed
state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality’;
the 2005 Tonga Musical concert which was backed by the Tonga woman
beauty pageant just fits in Conrad’s shoes of definition.
Drumming, stringing, clapping and singing the local musicians exposed
their prowess which five years ago was not known to anyone even their
neighbors. Surprising enough but encouraging very much, more youngsters
were seen dominating the traditional show with such energy, interest
and zeal.
One of the more than six thousand revelers who attended Geoffrey Hagwanama
from Choma had such syrupy comments on what he saw: "they (bands)
performed with great polish. I admired the exquisite refinement of
their prose and poems. Such events are important because they give
an inspiration to community members to realize how artistic this society
is”.
It was not just the artistry but the lyrics as well. They purely reflected
and prefigured the possibilities of organization of everyday life in
this given historical moment. The musicians may not have been using
Spanish guitars or Italian pianos but their locally made banjos and
barbatones produced such complex aesthetics that instigated feelings
and mores through which a collectivity reacted on the life that is
objectively determined by its rural economy.
Mr. Mooya Nyanga, who was one of the judges and former headmaster
for Canisius Secondary School said that this year’s concert “defined
the perspective of creating values and not in that of teaching them”.
Just as scholars say that a collective body of understanding beliefs
and behaviors among a given group of people; depends on the human capacity
for learning and transmitting knowledge from one generation to another,
Radio Chikuni concert succeeded in inculcating this notion with its
theme In Gathering Solutions are found.
The concert attracted 106 local bands participating in 11 traditional
categories let alone the modernized one called Kalindula. At lunch
times Mukanzubo Cultural Research Center displayed its Tonga Woman
perfomance, showing the feminine dances and dresses of the past. Young
girls thumped the concrete stage with fiber deodorants called mukula
on their bodies enveloping the entire arena.
You could see their flexible body structures move professionally from
one angle of the stage to another. On them were traditional gears,
pieces of knotted tree fibers called maaya covering their bottoms while
threads of clothes circled their chests. Their heads were decorated
with pieces of thick colorful laces they call mushini. Their hands
were clinging with all sorts and sizes of bracelets. Their necks were
sewn with laces they call mbaanyina.
The pageants displayed dances, which used to be performed when a girl
is out of nkolola or initiation period and is ready for all what a
Tonga woman needs to do for society. What impressed me much about this
year’s pageant was the dancing skills and choice of the pageants.
They were young, confident beautiful Tonga girls who propelled a complete
way of life of a Tonga woman, the one who has shared attitudes, values,
goals, and practices that characterize a Tonga society, its customs,
art, literature, religion, and philosophy.
The concert which went for two days from Friday August 12 and Saturday
August 13, 2005 showed a different kind of competition from the other
five concerts before. The famous Mashombe Blue Jeans, which is actually
the brainchild of this, same event appeared as guest artiste, so was
the Green Mamba band. The show started from 09:00hrs on both days with
short breaks of entertainment from the guest bands and went on till
late in the evenings with Mashombe and Green Mamba bands taking revelers
agog.
This Music Concert is not just a mere gathering of local musicians.
But it’s a show that has promoted the Tonga culture through music,
improved the livelihood of the musicians themselves, lowered some vices
among the community members and advocated for social change. It has
also eliminated some unjust activities and brought harmony among the
various peoples not of Chikuni only but the rest of Zambia in general
as well.
From may be 50 cent-meter high stage in 2000, this year you didn’t
need a front seat to see your favorite band, for you were able to hear
and view from as far away as 100 meters even farther than that. The
stage is higher enough even for a crawling toddler to view at least
clear enough to write home about the correct situation of the performances.
Since the first episode, the concert’s major goal has been to
promote the positive and good cultural practices of the people through
music; and as the adage goes, so far so good.
END
