The Sunday News
Sunday Leisure Reporter
THE Nyawo Lwami project carried out the first Training and Capacity Building Workshop on the 2003 Unesco Convention and the Inventorying process for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage, with 22 participants from 11-15 March. Funded by Unesco, the aim of the project is to enhance the capacity of communities to safeguard traditional dance expressions as performing arts heritage, and therein to build the capacity of cultural stakeholders to undertake community-based inventorying of elements of their performing arts heritage.
All roads led to Bulawayo for the colourful community of people from remote areas north and south of the city who, following Nhimbe Trust’s engagement and invitation. Participants came from as far as Tokwane, Binga, Lupane, Dumba and Tsholotso, which are located in Matabeleland North and South.
The workshop was facilitated by Reward Shockson and Caroline Maponga, identified by the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation as trained in the processes of safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), and Thabo Rapoo (South Africa) as dance facilitator to provide an insight into the concept of dance notation, assisted by Lewis Ndlovu for the practical session. The participants represented six cultural language groups — Tonga, iSiNdebele, Kalanga, Tswana, Venda and Nambya. — Nhimbe pulse.
