THE Children’s Performing Arts Workshop (Chipawo) this Saturday joins the world in commemorating the International Mother Language Day at the Zimbabwe College of Music.
WINSTONE ANTONIO
Chipawo, which trains children and exposes their artistic talent through various performances, has commemorated the day since 2000. This year’s celebrations are going to be held under the theme: Local Languages For Global Citizen: Spotlight On Science.
In an interview, Chipawo manager Chipo Basopo said the day would bring children together to express how they value mother tongues and appreciate their cultural diversity through arts.
“The significance of the day is that it promotes the importance of mother languages as a way of promoting linguistic diversity education, while giving children freedom of expression in their mother tongue,” Basopo said.
“Different Chipawo centres will meet and share information on different languages showcasing their talents through presentation of plays, dance, song, poems and totemic languages.”
Basopo said all the activities and presentations by children on the day will be done focusing on the theme of the commemorations. Chipawo children from centres in Norton, Chitungwiza, Harare, Domboshava, and Bindura among others are expected to come for the event.
Mother Language Day, celebrated annually on February 21, was proclaimed by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in 1999 to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by the people of the world.
