50 years of arts paradoxes

The story of the Malawian arts sector in the past half-century is a tale of paradoxes; a story of how close Malawian artists have come to making an impact on the international scene, yet the mirage keeps moving further away.

There have been moments in the past 50 years when Malawians took out the firecrackers in celebration of reaching the Promised Land.

Like that moment when the Bright Nkhata-led Kalimba Band serenaded the world with such persuasion and dexterity that their sensational hit Sometimes I Wonder landed on number five on the BBC Worldwide Charts.

But that seems like a long time ago; those beautiful memories of yesteryear’s accomplishment languidly perched in that cobwebby crook of our unconsciousness.

Prior and after this peak in the arts sector, there have been remarkable highs; moments of pure genius when the nation wallowed in the brilliance of artists at work. Or merely watched in awe.

Like when Allan Namoko walked into the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) studios one chilly morning, took out his battered, home-made acoustic guitar and sang his emotions out in Lameki. Malawi has never been the same again.

But even then, there has been extraordinary talent that mesmerised audiences as much as it told their stories. Names of artists that graced the stage and provided us with some of life’s most memorable soundtracks are as vast as the songs recorded.

Seminal bands operating between 1968 and 2000 included The Jazz Giants of Naison Seke, the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) Band, the New Scene of Morson Phuka, Kalimba and its successors Makasu and Love Aquarius, the Army Strings and the Malawi Police Orchestra.

These bands were the main training places for many Malawi musicians. Mention must be made of the Lilongwe-based electric bands such as Chitipi, Masaka and the Roots who were training grounds for many from the Centre and North. It was the Malawi Army Strings Band that was to reflect Malawi’s economic decline in the 1980s in Ndavutika.

But prior to this age, the likes of Black Paseli, States Samangaya, as well as the Chileka dynasty of Daniel and Donald Kachamba, Robert Fumulani and his Likhubula Jazz Band had set a solid foundation on which Malawian music continues to thrive.

High brass on country roads

Yet, despite this rich history, post-multiparty democracy Malawian music shames the very ‘Malawian’ brand that it seeks to promote.

The ‘Balaka beat’ of the 1990s had such a nauseating feel centred on the irritatingly brass tempo that made one wonder what really was musical about this music.

But such was the irony that this high brass music was so thoroughly enjoyed on the public buses plying the country’s dusty roads that this phase was the most financially rewarding for Malawian musicians.

And although music dominated and continues to dominate the arts, in the other fields of art, there were other formidable names too that enabled a culture to exist.

At any given time in history, the country has been blessed with performers that have defied their circumstances to create pieces of art that warm the heart and bring out the rainbow in the murky clouds.

In drama, for instance, Charles Severe and Du Chisiza Jnr notably took it upon themselves to create a functional Chichewa and English theatre industry, however, insurmountable the task may have seemed at inception.

And elsewhere in the visual arts sector, Chancellor College academics Kay Chiromo and Berlings Kaunda are celebrated as the pioneers.

Yet, in the midst of these individual strides, government had been glaringly unwilling to lend its support to the arts.

This lack of government support towards the arts is glaringly evident in the lack of arts infrastructure. The sole government-owned arts structure, the Blantyre Cultural Centre, lies in a desolate state.

That a whole government machinery has failed to raise K5 million over the past three years to bring this entertainment mecca to a base functional minimum says a lot about government interest, or lack thereof, in the arts.

The government is an accomplice

Wambali, one of the brightest stars to shine his light on the music scene over the past three decades, notes that government’s lack of interest in the arts is obscenely shocking.

Wambali cites government’s approach to dealing with piracy as disappointing.

“When someone is stealing somebody’s stuff, you don’t need to hire police; it is the police’s duty to apprehend criminals. But why is it that as artists, we are asked to hire police when we need to confiscate pirated material,” he wonders. “I don’t know why with music there is an excuse.”

But the ‘lack of government support’ swansong has been so overplayed that it has come to sound like a scratched record.

To blame government for all the misfortunes that dog the music industry is a naïve and overly simplistic approach.

At its most proficient, the arts sector is a dysfunctional clamour of discontent voices—each trying to outdo the rest for a moment in the spotlight, however fleeting that minute might be.

“Musicians should have the maturity to enable government to take them seriously. I see a lot of childishness. Aside that, issues have not been brought together…there is need for a united voice. There is a lot of greed and selfishness, everyone is pulling their own side,” Wambali notes.

That aside, the notion that the country has an art industry is an absurdity. Because the notion of industry assumes that there are structures and a legal framework in which such a system operates—the lack of which dismisses a ‘Malawian art industry’ as being such.

But art is founded on the concept of distinctiveness. This would compel one to think that Malawian art, due to its raw and unexploited nature, would enthuse starry-eyed global art pundits.

But the lack of a legal framework in which artists can function, or indeed a platform or voice, has left artists groping in the dark, not knowing what they are touching or indeed in which direction they face.

Yet there is hope

Wambali points to the emerging talent on the music scene as pointers to a bright future.

“There are a lot of fine artists that have made commendable strides. What Erik Paliani is doing in the jazz field is something that is profound and amazing. And what Lawi is doing with gospel music is just remarkable. Also what Lulu is doing is amazing. The artists need to be supported,” said Wambali.