(Khokhiwe Mphila)
The
Music cluster within the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of Arts is hosting
the 1st International Bow Music Conference from February 24 to 27.
Convened by a team
led by Dr Sazi Dlamini, UKZN lecturer and well-known township jazz exponent,
the event has garnered a wave of passionate interest from local and
international bow music practitioners, as well ethnomusicological research
academics from as far afield as the US, Brazil, Europe, and neighbouring SADC
countries of Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
While it is an
academic gathering, The Bow Music Conference will be opening its doors to
public attendance at paper presentations, workshops and discussions which will
focus on diverse topics on global bow musical practices. The conference
acknowledges the widespread indigenous occurrence of musical bows both in
Africa and in far-flung areas of the globe, as well as the growing research and
public interest on bow music.
The keynote address
at the conference will be given by the eminent bow music professor David
Dargie, a retired monk who brought to the world’s attention Xhosa women’s
umrhubhe mouth-bow playing and the mesmerizing overtone singing techniques of
Ngqoko village women of the Lady Frere area in the Eastern Cape.
The Bow Music
Conference will include a progrmamme of musical performances that will showcase
Southern African musical bows such as uhadi and ikatari (Xhosa); the Sotho lesiba,
sekhankuri and lekope; the Venda thomo; chizambi and chipendani mouthbows found
in Mozambique and eastern Zimbabwe; sitolotolo, makhoyana, umqangala and makhweyana
(Zulu & Swati). During the conference some of these musical bows will be
displayed in a curated exhibition of indigenous musical instruments at the
KZNSA Gallery.
A significant
presence in the conference is that of the Afro-Brazillian musical bow the berimbau,
the calabash-resonated musical bow closely associated with capoeira, the
worldwide popular physical game-dance-martial art that resulted from the
presence of African slaves in Brazil. Several scholarly presentations will
focus on the berimbau’s African origins as well as the instrument’s
relationship to widespread Bantu bow cultures of Africa’s sub-Saharan region.
The programme will include screenings of director Richard Pakleppa’s
documentary film ‘Jogo de Corpo’ [Body Games] – which traces the roots of capoeira
and of the berimbau to Angola.
Conference
presentations will take place at UKZN’s Innovation Centre (Gate 9, Rick Turner
Road) on February 24, 25 and 26. Entrance is free upon registration.
The film and
concerts series take place at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre at Howard College
Campus UKZN from February 25 to 27. Tickets available through Computicket.
Daytime events at
the KZNSA on February 27 include a workshop on musical bow-making, an
indigenous musical instrument exhibition and a capoeira Angola roda conducted
by Mestre Cobra Mansa from Salvador, Bahia-Brazil.
For more
information go to www.bowconference.com or facebook.com/bowconference, or email info@bowconference.com
The 1st International Bow Music Conference
is a Sources of Creativity Catalytic Project, funded through a research grant
from The National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
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