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HaMbukushu and VaManyo culture captured in new documentation project

HaMbukushu and VaManyo culture captured in new documentation project

Preserving the often neglected ethnic cultures of Kavango East region has just received a very substantial boost from the German Embassy in Windhoek in the form of project finance to capture the Kavango cultural heritage.

Earlier in March, the embassy announced that is has awarded a grant of nearly N$1 million (Eur53,000) to the Arts Foundation of Kavango to establish a record of traditional practices. The project runs under the stewardship of Edward Diyeve and Joseph Mukoya.

Based on the earlier work of the Arts Foundation, done from 2018 to 2020, the current project sets out to establish a formal record, including video material, of the traditional craftmanship, music and dances of the Gciriku, Shambyu and Mbukushu tribes. The ultimate goal is to have a comprehensive record of the culture and cultural activities of the Kavango East.

After signing an agreement with the embassy, Diyeve said “It is a realization of measures that will ensure that what remains before its disappearance, is documented, so that these cultural materials remain an integral part of village life and [that] the intergenerational transmission chain it is not broken. The critical safeguarding measure is through the research and documentation of the traditional crafts, music and dances of ethnic communities. The time is now to undertake a comprehensive documentation of what remains.”

The project is funded through the cultural preservation fund of the Federal Foreign Office. Namibia so far has received circa Eur1 million for the preservation of its cultural heritage.

The German Ambassador, HE Herbert Beck (middle) signed an agreement on behalf of the embassy with the Arts Foundation of Kavango represented by Edward Diyeve and Joseph Mukoya, to capture the cultural heritage of the tribes in Kavango East.


 

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