BY CHIEDZA MAZHANGARA DESTINY Mineral and Agricultural Consultancy Lifestyle Centre (DMAC) today hosts the Friday Cultural Day to celebrate the African narrative through culture at their office in Harare.
In an interview with NewsDay Life & Style, DMAC executive chairperson Vimbai Chakanetsa said the event would showcase culture through song, dance and African cuisines.
“Our greatest challenge in Africa is a battered image from our reluctance to champion the formulation of our own narrative, choosing to rely on the wrong account formulated and propagated by other nations,” he said.
“The tendency of being ashamed of our own culture, taking pride in the adoption of our former colonial master’s cultural identities robbed us of a rich cultural inheritance. Our culture is the glue that binds the nation together and its absence explains the chaos and moral decay we are witnessing right now.”
Chakanetsa said the event would showcase how Africans were proud of their culture, adding that it also broadened people’s participation in indigenous cultural development.
“The goal is to embrace and show the world that we are proud Africans not ashamed of their culture and traditions, in so doing we write our own narrative of the African culture and traditions,” he said.
“In so doing we defend our continent from the deliberate misrepresentation of African history, culture and identity done by other nations. Tourists visit different destinations to see and appreciate national uniqueness, not copycats of other traditions. If they want British culture, they go to Britain and not to Britain’s former colonies like Zimbabwe.”
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