“I am, of myself, nothing.I am, through the Creator, a medium through which people can reflect," says Tlokwe Sehume

The Village Square brought Southern Africa’s multicultural disciplines of the arts together

Medu Promotions in association with The Market Theatre presented The Village Square, a multilingual and multicultural collaborative project that encompassed different disciplines of the arts created by South Africa’s most diverse African contemporary and African classical musicians, composers and poets, directed by Tlokwe Sehume. This theatrical piece is a celebration of what is left of our indigenous knowledge system and cultural make up.

Tlokwe Sehume, Image taken from the website

The Village Square is the ensemble of language, culture, and African wisdom, original musical and ritual practices by Africans. It presented what I call ‘the human face’ that the world should see about us as a country. Sehume and his team brought forth the beauty of a classical offering. “The Village Square is a body of work that started back in 2003,” says Tlokwe Sehume during the panel discussion after the final performance at the John Kani Main Theatre. “I don’t call the work we do indigenous, it is African classical music,” emphasised Sehume.

“I am, of myself, nothing.Thanks to the Creator, for having given me this life. I am, through the Creator, a medium through which people can reflect – always carrying, always embodying the message of our path, our ancestry, through music of the mountains – Mmino wa Thaba – The music of the gods (Abaphantsi), ” once said Sehume in her album called Ba Utlwile.The body of work from The Village Square affords a deep reflection of one’s identity. The stage thronged with enlightenment,education, wisdom and delight that makes one to take pride in being proudly African, proudly South African to be precise.

The work is indisputably classical in that it embodies ancient African way of life, such we see in one of the first scenes where two Basarwa men walk on stage, seemingly on a hunting spree. Basarwa, popularly known as The San People are the indigenous hunter-gatherer people of Southern Africa, whose territories span, the SADC region of Africa. It is not a surprise that history tells us that The San people are considered to be the first inhabitants of what is now South Africa and Botswana. The magical exercise these two men performed on stage attested to this historical fact. They made fire from hand without matches-stick after what looked like a successful hunt. The process starting first by rubbing sticks together doesn’t only delights you, but it exemplifies wisdom and wealth of creativity by African people, further it also shows the power of patience, team work and pride of self-identity.

In the affair of hunting and making fire, these men dance and sing in language you may not comprehend, but the whole affair speaks to your soul. There is a projection of the San paintings in the background which really takes one on a journey of self-discovery as a people. As you watch the performance of this Basarwa men, one really tiny but aged and the other bigger, all adorned in animal hides, with their bow and arrows, you cannot help but relate their story with Sylvia Vollenhoven’s recently published book called The Keeper Of The Kumm, which tells a story of Kabbo, a Bushman storyteller and revolutionary.

The Village Square is so rich, tumult of choreographically charged movements. Young and bright boys call to stage in prances, drums beating with kora’s musings all over the stage. This African classical, loosely translated ‘MALOPO’ in Sepedi language, it is music of the people and ancestors who once walked the earth. Drum is Africa’s most traditional musical instrument and the variety of drums some referred to ‘talking drums’ of West Africa are far and wide. The African musical instruments signal or communicate point of view, suiting the intention behind the project. With these instruments, any group of dancers can fully express its soul, and this it is believed, brings the souls of the living closer to their ancestors.

Writing his thesis on The Cultural and Historical Significance of Malopo: A Pedi Perspective, Dr. M.E. Lebaka wrote: “The impressions created during interviews and observations were that Pedi traditional healers perform malopo songs to communicate with the ancestors. The results suggest that malopo rituals are aimed at enriching the personal and social life of the Pedi community.”

The performance took place at The Market Theatrte from the 19th to 22nd of January 2017.

Khehla Chepape Makgato is a Johannesburg-based independent artist and arts writer, regularly contributing articles to ART AFRICA and The Journalist. He is the founder of Chronicles Of Ideas blog, aimed at publishing anything ARTSY. He works at Assemblage Studios and is the founder of Samanthole Creative Projects & Workshop, a community-based art organisation focusing on arts and literacy youth programmes. Chepape is the ImpACT Award WINNER for Visual Arts 2016 from the Arts and Culture Trust of South Africa and The Mapungubwe Visual Artist of The Year 2016.