Mwezi Wawala changes tune on foreign artists
Organisers of the Mwezi Wawala International Arts and Theatre Festival have finally reacted to complaints raised by some patrons that most of the overseas acts that dominated last year’s festival did not have an impact.
Random interviews at the end of last year’s festival at the Nanzikambe Arts Cafe revealed that most patrons were unable to follow most of the foreign artists, citing some acts were new, complicated, difficult to follow and irrelevant to the continent’s way of life as they tackled much issues in the artists’ country.
Speaking in an interview, festival coordinator Vincent Maluwa said they recorded the complaints raised last year to help them improve this year’s festival. He said one of the main changes that will be observed this year is few overseas and many African artists on the stage.
“Apart from the complaints, we also observed that we have been emphasising on overseas acts and fewer African acts and this buries the meaning of the festival to Malawians because we believe that we have to learn and beat what fellow Africans are doing before we compete with overseas actors. Africa is rich in cultures and there is a lot Malawians need to learn and we can facilitate this by prioritising African acts,” he said.
According to Maluwa, some of the artists shortlisted and confirmed are Menes the Slam, poet from DRC, Xpressive Arts from Zimbabwe, Kenyan traditional Dance group NKM Theatre Initiative from Zimbabwe, Tau Maseremure from South Africa and the local artists list has Max DC, Lusubilo Band, Yankho Seunda, Njonjonjo, Hudson Chamasowa, Nanzikambe Arts and Pace Theatre. So far, Birimankwe Arts is the only registered from overseas.
The three-day festival runs from August 29 to 31 at the Nanzikambe Arts Cafe in Blantyre.
