Cultural practices preserved
The German embassy and the Arts Foundation of Kavango (AFOKA) recently signed an agreement for the documentation and preservation of cultural practices of the HaMbukushu and VaManyo communities in the Kavango East region.
AFOKA will receive around N$960 000 to carry out this project until 2024.
The aim is to preserve the traditional practices of craftsmanship skills, music and dance of the Gciriku, Shambyu and Mbukushu ethnic communities through the research and development of books, including audio-video materials (DVD format), based on fieldwork done from 2018 to 2020 by the Arts Foundation. This also allows the cultural practices to be documented for future generations and transmitted to them.
Commenting at the signing, AFOKAA’s Mukoya Edward Diyeve said that “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 the intergeneration transmission chain it is not broken. The critical safeguarding measure is through the research and documentation of the traditional crafts, music and dance practices of ethnic communities. The time is now to undertake comprehensive documentation of what remains.”
The project is funded through the cultural preservation fund of the German Federal Foreign Office. Germany has supported the preservation of cultural heritage in developing countries since 1981. As part of this programme, Namibia has so far received around €1 million for the preservation of cultural heritage since 1985.