MBIRAVOLUTION is set to host mbira legend Stella Chiweshe alongside Chiwoniso Maraire this evening for a mbira discussion where focus will be on the significant contribution women have made in developing and promoting mbira music and the instrument.
GARIKAI TUNHIRA
The event, dubbed Mbira Discussion — The mbira journey with Stella Chiweshe and Chiwoniso Maraire interviewed by Hope Masike — will take place at the Book Café.
One of the event organisers Extra-Blessings Kuchera, who is also a musicologist, said the discussion would be “a lifetime experience” to know more about mbira in Zimbabwe and the world before Chiweshe returns to Europe.
Chiweshe, a celebrated mbira maestro both in Zimbabwe and the world over, is now based in Germany.
“We are very excited and elated to have Mbuya Stella Chiweshe speaking on this platform as she is one of the most respected mbira players in the world. This will be one of the most important discussions in history, related to the mbira. This will highlight the significance of the mbira instrument and music in Zimbabwe and beyond,” Kuchera said.
The speakers come from three different generations of female mbira players who have been significant and “whose music has made them icons”.
Many people, Kuchera said, have misconceptions about the emergence of female mbira players and therefore, their importance is diminished.
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“One thing for sure is that women were denied the opportunity to play mbira even if they had a passion for it. This also applies to other traditional instruments which were mainly male-dominated. Many women now play mbira on the local, regional and international platforms where they showcase their work.”
Chiweshe is one of the few women who broke the barriers and paved the way in inspiring many other women to play mbira.
Her input took a lot of courage to overcome several challenges she went through, while Maraire is one of the undisputed icons in mbira music and has certainly done well in promoting the music and instrument to the world.
The event interviewer, Masike, just recently came back from a tour and is also a rising star on the road to greatness.
She has been very innovative and experimental with mbira music which has made her fuse several music genres with mbira music.
The other event organiser, Hector Mugani — also an ethnomusicologist — said of the event: “The discussion will mainly focus on the emergence of female mbira players and their immense contribution to the development of mbira instrument and music, the music industry and the Zimbabwean community. We should all support and celebrate such positive development.”
Today’s Mbiravolution discussion is one of a series of mbira development-related programmes which began in 2012.
Mbiravolution is a community of mbira players, researchers, makers, academics and lovers who discuss, share and engage each other for the development of mbira as music as well as an instrument.
