ORGANISERS of the annual Great Limpopo Cultural Trade Fair have set October 30 to November 1 as the dates for this year’s edition of the cultural fete scheduled for Boli Muhlanguleni Business Centre, south of Chiredzi town.
BY GARIKAI MAFIRAKUREVA
The cultural expo administrator Manatsa Kuzomuka told NewsDay Life &Style, yesterday that the Centre for Cultural Development Initiatives is currently in the process of constructing a multi-cultural village to promote cultural tourism in a rural set-up of Muhlanguleni, which is on the margins of Gonarezhou National Park and also is home to Tsonga/Shangaan communities.
“The Great Limpopo Cultural Trade Fair seeks to galvanise indigenous communities’ voices in safeguarding the rights of minority groups, the use and protection of natural resources for their socio-economic benefits. It regards communities as active teachers, participants and decision-makers in all aspects of their lives who have significant and untapped resources for effective and collective response to the challenges affecting them,” he said.
“We are inviting members in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area and abroad to come aboard and showcase what they can during the three-day open air cultural trade fair because it is open to everyone.”
Kuzomuka said this year’s edition of the cultural fair is focusing on creating solutions for indigenous communities which can be achieved through Community Policy Engagement Forums and Indigenous Knowledge and Living Heritage Expo.
“The fair is not only for entertainment, but is the artistic manifestation of peoples’ values, collective personality, cultural creativity and ultimately, their aspiration and vision of a higher level of life,” he said.
“The distinctions in these art forms are not only a source of pride and dignity for our communities, but also form the basis for creating and developing new industries which give rise to jobs and revenue sources for our community’s creative expansiveness, self-sufficiency and sustainability.”
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Communities in Chiredzi as well as those in attendance will have a chance to participate in an international corner where youths from different countries will present their traditional food, drinks and other cultural points of interest.
“With this fair, we aim to ensure effective and active participation of indigenous communities in decision-making processes with regards to minority groups’ rights and the use as well as the protection of natural resources in the Great Limpopo TransFrontier Conservation Area,” he added.
