Arts Review

Written by: Tiisetso Tlelima

Immerse yourself in the spirit of uhadi (a Xhosa bow) and the droning yet rich, harmonic sounds of ugubhu (a Zulu gourd bow) this Women’s Day at House of Nsako at 3pm on Sunday as we celebrate the music of Zulu classical musician and poet, Princess Magogo; uhadi bow songs of the great Nofinishi Dywili; the songs of Madosini, Queen of Pondoland music; and many other Southern African women who were instrumental in the development and preservation of musical bows.

The Bow Heritage Agents presents Bow, Women And Song - an event dedicated to the celebration of Women’s Day through a performance of musical bows. “The event emerged out of a genuine desire to showcase the music of the bow which is seldom performed nor given any meaningful performance platform,” says musician and event organizer Thokozani Mhlambi who will also be performing at the event. “So we wanted to create a space in which we could perform this music freely and to highlight its significance in the shaping of our past. In recent years South Africa has seen an explosion of African music as a commodity of tourist consumption, therefore part of our attempt is to shift this music away from a tourist-centred setting and to invoke it to the people to whom it belongs.”

Part of the reason for performing these bows is to recover that tradition which may not be as popular amongst South African youth. “Interestingly enough, when I walk on the street carrying these bows, older people often make comments, some of them do so with beaming smiles on their faces. For me this just shows that this is not a forgotten tradition,” says Thokozani.

The musical bows are a particularly strong tradition amongst the Southern African indigenous groups. History has it that these were introduced to the Bantu, who moved further South by the Khoi-San who were already living in the area. When the Bantu came they lived and intermixed with the Khoi-San to the extent that there are no marked differences between the Bantu and the Khoi-San, if there ever were. “Colonial logic created an imaginary difference between the two, as if they had lived in complete hostility of each other prior to the arrival of Europeans. The clicks in the Nguni languages are but another marker of that mutual cohabitation,” adds Thokozani.

Musical bows were used in many different performance contexts in history. A young lady for instance could play a certain type of bow, while on her own, as a way of summoning her lover. Some bows were given great significance and would be reserved for those momentous occasions including in the performance of amahubo (hymns) sung at times of death, suffering, royal weddings and for prayer to umvelinqangi (God), while some tunes were considered to be very playful and were sung when playing with children, as lullabies and as a form of storytelling.

Audiences can expect to hear something very different from the norm at the Bow, Women And Song event. The songs performed will be very powerful and extremely spiritual. There will be a huge emphasis on the layering of voices where each voice sings a different melody and music lovers will experience the overlapping of these voices against each other - something which is very unique to Southern African music. They will also hear how tunes change when played with or without drums, thereby creating a new dimension altogether. “We are hoping that our sound may strike a different chord in every person so that they leave the event transformed,” says Thokozani. “I hope people who do come to the event, come so without considering themselves as spectators, but more as active participants in the delivery of the performance. Their presence plays just as much of a role as ours in the unfolding of the event. We encourage them to participate in any way they may deem fit.”

On the bill expect to see Akhona Ndzuta on vocals, Ntsako Joe Makhanza on percussions, Thokozani Mhlambi on bows, among many. These young musos all share one vision which is to transform performance culture in Johannesburg. “Taking these women’s bow songs seriously can be a way of rethinking Women’s Day not so much as a celebration of political activists but a celebration of every ordinary woman out there whose experiences demonstrate everyday negotiations of various forms of oppression including harsh outcomes of mass urban migration by men which often left women alone having to feed families and without love, the experiences of ‘arranged marriage’ and the marginalization of diviners - who were mostly women - during missionary conquests,” explains Thokozani. “By including men at the forefront of this project as well, the attempt here is to break the stereotype that Women’s Day is a women’s issue.”

Bow, Women And Song is a free event! The gig takes place at House of Nsako on Sunday 9 August at 3pm.

For more info contact Thokozani Mhlambi at thokozani@gmail.com or 0825328633.