The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sunday News Correspondent
ARTS organisation, Nhimbe Trust have launched a collaborative project that highlights the “Blesser/ Blessee” phenomenon.
Nhimbe partnered South Africa’s Sibikwa Arts Centre to come up with the project titled The Amavuso Project that fosters an online discussion on the exchange of money in relationships between men and women.
According to a Press release, The Amavuso Project is a multimedia performance initiative which aims to portray authentic and diverse perspectives on what’s widely known as the “blesser” phenomenon, as an increasingly accepted popular culture. The performance will aim to give audiences a sense and feel of the interactions between “blessers” and “blessees”, exploring the pervasiveness and impact of social media.”
Blessers have slowly come to be accepted in society as mainly men who date mostly young girls and in exchange, they “bless” them with money. Questions arise whether mavuso or girlfriend allowance is a must. Mavuso, (a Zulu word derived from vuka meaning “wake-up”) is money paid to a woman after spending the night with a man who is in some cases a total stranger and it’s not classified as prostitution as there is no fixed price.
Donna Ncube
The project, supported by an ANT Mobility Grant from Pro Helvetia Johannesburg financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), will be created and performed by an all-female creative team from the two countries, South African actresses Dineo Komane and Eutychia Rakaki, and from Zimbabwe are Donna Ncube and Charmaine Mudau.
It is integrated by video footage and other digital elements, built from engagements and discussions on the Facebook page which was set up to gather society’s overall view on the subject. The thought-provoking project poses various questions that set the tone for discussions on the page and these include ‘What is the number one rule of Amavuso?’ ‘What is the ultimate Mavuso Package?’
Mudau said the ‘blesser’ and ‘blessee’ phenomenon means different things to different individuals. Sibikwa is a visionary arts centre that promotes quality arts education, performance, vocational training and job creation in South Africa. Nhimbe Trust is a Zimbabwean arts advocacy organisation that works at the intersection of culture and development to foster local socio-economic development.
