Wolwedans hosts artistic creativity workshop
Hit the Beat recently held a vibrant and tuneful workshop with about 35 hospitality and horticulture trainees at Wolwedans Village, in the heart of the NamibRand Nature Reserve.
Hit the Beat, founded in 1999 by Simone de Picciotta, brings together individuals from diverse cultures on a common stage to share the spirit of artistic creativity, to make music and to sing while dancing to a mounting rhythm.
Reinhold Mangundu, from Wolwedans Foundation, said the three-day event was themed, Treasuring Namibia’s Treasures, struck a different kind of harmony with their idea of, ‘Trash to Treasure’, a concept embedded in Wolwedans Vision 2020, The AridEden Project. “The Project promotes personal well being and development, and a consciously lived value system,” said Mangundu.
Mangundu said the workshop started on 1 March exposing the diverse group of participants to visual and performing arts, music and poetry. “It created a safe space through which participants could self realise by exploring their imaginative and creative capabilities, drawing on inspiration from their cultural diversity and the beautiful natural surrounding, where participants learned to drum, dance and make music using an array of instruments,” added Mangundu.
Mangundu emphasised that this event strongly speaks to the philosophy of Wolwedans and the pursuit of happiness inspired a new way to promote an inclusive, holistic paradigm of conservation tourism that enhances livelihoods and fosters intercultural dialogue.
“It is a practice that has become a compass for navigating through this maze of complex challenges, despair and uncertainty about the future because music and arts help us to fully express ourselves, to connect to our inner dimensions while embracing our culture and that of others,” said Mangandu.
Hit the Beat concluded the two-day programme of intense, yet fun activities by allowing participants to produce creative artworks and perform in front of an audience of Wolwedans guests and staff.
“The result was an event with a lot of vibrant, good energy, courtesy of the dances performed, spoken word poetry, visual arts presentations and the singing of powerful songs beneath the stars, a night of building bridges and connecting under the stars, celebrating diversity and the treasures of Namibia,” they added.
This event will become a regular feature for the Wolwedans Foundation and Hit the Beat and it will continue to promote a space for creativity and imagination, and a platform for celebrating cultural diversity in the country, which promotes a culture of togetherness and brings individuals in one space to revel in the rhythm of music and the power of arts in a beautiful landscape.
