RUTENDO MACHIRIDZA OFF TO EUROPE

In 2012 with her band Savannah Afros, Rutendo Machiridza won the National Competition Finals for Music Crossroads held on the 21^st January on First Street. The band proceeded to Maputo, Mozambique for the Inter-Regional Finals where they came second from a total of six Southern African bands from Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Rutendo was awarded an Ethno-world award for being the most outstanding performer at the regional finals and is scheduled to tour three countries in Europe end of June this year.

Ethno-world is a folk/traditional music festival that takes place annually in several European countries such as Sweden, Norway, Denmark and starting this year Tanzania.  It features young musicians between the ages of 18 and 25, giving them a platform to share and exchange ideas in collaboration with ethno organisations such as Jeunesses Musicales International and Music Crossroads International.

Ethno –world is a wonderful opportunity for cultural music exchange as it features young musicians from all over the world. It is conducted on a one-teach-one basis, workshops and jam sessions which are put together under the supervision of musical mentors after which concerts are put up.

Rutendo is a young musician, fronting vocalist for the band Savannah Afros.  They made their debut appearance at HIFA this year as Savannah Afros where they put up a sterling performance in the Coke-Green.  Rutendo has performed regularly at the Book Café and at the Zimbabwe–German Society’s Acoustic Nights as well as at several live music joints in Harare.   She has participated in several competitions such as the ‘A’ Academy where she made it into the top 20 in 2007. She also made it into the UMOJA Cultural Flying Carpet in 2011, where she performed together with artists from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Norway and Mozambique. Whilst part of the  UMOJA team of 2011, Rutendo toured Zimbabwe performing at various venues. Currently she is participating in the Starbrite Competition and has reached the last round of the competition.

At 21,  Rutendo holds a National Certificate in Music from the Zimbabwe College of Music and says she would like to further her studies.

In the past bands like Bongo Love, Club Shanga, Mokoomba, Gwarimba, African Destiny have won the Music Crossroads competition and toured Europe several times.  Mokoomba and Bongo Love continue to enjoys regular tours in Europe and the United States respectively.

Rutendo leaves Harare for Stockholm, Sweden on the 28^th  June then proceeds to Zagreb, Croatia on the 8^th of July.  She makes her last stop in Copenhagen, Denmark and returns home at the end of July.

By Batsirai E Chigama

June Sistaz open Mic in Pictures

R Tendo Tapiwa with DJ Naida

Guest Musician - Pauline Gundidza

Guest Musician - Pauline Gundidza

MC - R Tendo

Uzanele

Cynthia "FlowChyld" Marangwanda

Yolanda Hassan singing "Jailer"

Yolanda Hassan - Powerful voice

Momo "Bluez" Size

Linda PoeticAngel Gabriel with Doc Manyeruke

PoeticAngel

Chipipi Twins

Plaxedes Wenyika

Cedes in Action

DJ Naida

Rotterdam Gig for Zimbabwe’s FlowChyld

• Written by  Zimbo Jam Network

Cynthia Marangwanda Pamberi Trust
 

She is known as FlowChyld in poetry and hip-hop circles. She is one of Zimbabwe’s most tenacious spoken-word artists and slam poets and next week she represents us all at the Poetry International Festival in Rotterdam.

FlowChyld, known to her parents as Cynthia Marangwanda, identifies herself as a feminist and creative activist and has become the darling of spoken word stages with her confident, well-thought out and insightful poetry.

She was selected by Pamberi Trust out of a slew of other talented poets to perform at the festival.
An ecstatic Cynthia could not hide her excitement when asked how she received the news that the House of Hunger Poetry Slam, a project by Pamberi Trust had singled her out to represent Zimbabwe at The Poetry International Festival. “When I was told I would be attending the Poetry International Festival I was so shocked I literally burst into tears!”

The Poetry International Festival was first held in 1970 and has grown to become one of the most authoritative poetry festivals in the world. The 43rd edition will take place from the 12-17th of June and FlowChyld will take to the stage on the 15th, performing among the world’s most renowned poets, including Najwan Darwish, Dolores Dorantes, Ulrike Draesner, L.K. Holt and Hédi Kaddour.


She joins a list of veteran Zimbabwean poets and literary aficionados who have participated at the Poetry International Festival in recent years. These include John Eppel, Chirikure Chirikure, the late Julius Chingono and editors Irene Staunton and Murray McCartney.


“My art is rooted in Harare’s vibrant urban culture scene and fuelled by the protest sounds of hip-hop and reggae. I consider myself a part of the city’s underground artistic subculture,” says FlowChyld.
“My poetry is mainly concerned with themes of identity, emancipation, the deconstruction of oppressive structures, socio-political commentary, individual power, as well as in transformation, all seen through the lens of a twenty-something African feminist.” 

Her performances are powerful and memorable and she has left many an audience in awe. One such poem being “Art of Invisibility” which delves in the issues of true beauty and being African – the misconception, underrepresentation and misrepresentation of the African beauty.

“I’m the type that hides behind blank facial expressions
Behind neutral conversations
Because I cannot bear to be seen
I find it’s easier not to exist
In this world of mass-media constructed images
Of a kind of beauty most of sub-Saharan Africa seems to lack
Which means a darker-skinned ethnic looking sister like me
Is pretty much non-existent in the eyes of the global machine
Except as the stereotypical victim of poverty, disease & conflict
The concept of an intelligent, beautiful, natural African woman
Has to be a lie, a myth
Because I can’t seem to find myself in your magazines
Your movie-scenes,...”

Cynthia started performing spoken-word in 2008 at Sistaz Open Mic and the House of Hunger Poetry Slam at the Book Café and believes these  platforms have helped to nurture her talent and greatly assisted in her growth as a performance-poet. “I have gone on to perform at many other events and places nationally including the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) and also regionally in Namibia and Lesotho. I also co-founded Chimoto!  – a platform for fellow emerging performance-artists and an urban creative-outreach project - in 2010” she says.

Why spoken word? “I believe in the power of words as tools for transcending boundaries and limitations, healing psychological wounds and freeing the collective human spirit. To me being a creative artist is not about seeking fame or awards but about being the voice of the unseen and the unheard, about being unafraid to challenge the status quo or defy convention. As a poet I believe my work is to always speak the truth, provoke minds and represent the cause of progression through my craft.”

Besides performing, Flowchyld will together with other poets and poetry editors, discuss the status of poetry in areas of conflict during an event themed “Every wondering is a slithering rope.”  Other participants of the debate are Sascha Aurora Akhtar (Pakistan), Vahe Arsen (Armenia), Najwan Darwish (Palestine) and Umar Timol (Mauritius), and the Poetry International website editors Arundhathi Subramaniam (India) and Hasif Amini (Indonesia).

“I feel very humbled and honoured to have been selected, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I'm not taking it for granted. It has the potential to take my poetry to the next level and I know I'll gain considerably from interacting with other people involved in the poetry industry from around the world,” said the lyrical artist.


By Batsirai E Chigama for
Zimbojam.com

SISTAZ OPEN MIC - CHANGE OF VENUE