REFLECTIONS: The 13th Annual Nozincwadi Storytelling and Book Festival by Gcinamasiko Arts and Heritage Trust, Durban South Africa

Started as Nozincwadi Literacy Campaign by Dr Gcina Mhlophe in 2001 touring rural areas in South Africa promoting the importance of reading and the dawn of another literacy development initiative called school library boxes. In 2008 Nozincwadi became a fully fledged small literary festival that has been conducted annually around the country. The name of the festival is in honour of her great  grandmother "...who could not read or write but collected anything with words on it," remarked Dr. Gcina Mhlophe. It has been for me a great honor and privilege to have attended for the second time their 13th annual installment which spun four days in different locations.

It is important to note here that Dr Mhlophe had been involved in the art of telling our stories the world over spanning four decades. 

Day One of this year's installment was History-Telling at Luthuli Museum in Groutville Durban with Dr Elinor Sisulu as the key speaker.

Day Two was Virtual Seminar on Universality of The Story. 

Day Three was Daytime Story and Market Under the Storytelling Tree at Bluff show ground and Evening Story screening of 2020 at Durban School of Music.

Day Four was the National Storytelling Day at Durban School of Music which marked the 63rd birthday anniversary of Dr. Gcina Mhlophe. 

The first musical performance was at the Luthuli Museum by a legendary Gogo Bavukile Ngema (78) popularly known as MaBhengu from eShowe village of Mbongolwana, a Makhweyana virtuoso/seasoned performer with incredible energy of a stage presence. She is one of the few women multi-instrumentalists we have in the country. She played both Umakhoyane and Flute along implementation of her own vocals at the Luthuli Museum. uMakhweyana is an instrument which has a gourd resonator mounted near the center of the stave. The string is metal, made of wire, and is divided into two sections by means of a wire loop, which is ‘anchored’ inside the gourd. This loop also goes around the main string. It is indigenous to Nguni (Zulu, Xhosa and Swati) people, mostly women plays it. She cuts and shapes the wood, grows the gourd/ cslabash, buys the wire and finds the small bamboo stick that she uses to play the instrument.  She does all of this from start to finish. She loves to teach and share her knowledge.

The events at Gcinamasiko Arts and Heritage Trust are always resplendent of festivities and the impact they have on the attendees,  you would be forgiven to think they are multimillion funded only to find that sometimes no cent is put into the work. You will also be forgiven to think that there are full time employed people with salary every month because their events are world class, only to find that individuals with the same vision are brought together to achieve all they set their minds to achieve. The Mhlophe family, the friends and associates all volunteer their services to this good cause. The young people such as Nomakhwezi Becker, daughter to Mme Gcina, Siphelele Mhlophe, her grandson and Amanda her granddaughter are all dedicatedly hands on and with them I see a better arts and cultural landscape on the continent.

Important here is also to mention two people who make the egging of the GCINAMASIKO family to run. Hector Kunene, (fellow activist and poet) and myself when we landed at Shaka International Airport were were picked up by the most amazing man, bhuti Benedict Mhlophe. A remarkable driver who helps with logistics during the festivals. Also we have a pleasure of been taken care of by ausi Nontokozo Cobokana who is the stage and event manager who makes sure that everyone is fed during the festivals.

 If you are passionate about telling stories of Afrika in any medium or form, whether young or old, there is no way Dr Gcina Mhlophe will not be your inspiration. She is a woman of great vision and energy to match. Her efforts to promote and encourage the storytelling tradition had benefited the young and old the world over and she continues to do so with the energy that surpasses younger generation. She has arguably, through her multi-layered artistic expressions become an unmuteable voice of richness ancient expression of oral tradition. She makes our stories audible and valuable; she helps to restore them to the community at large, where they have been mostly silenced yet have always belonged. Her art of storytelling alters individuals,changing us into families, groups, communities, and even nations. She is an institution of ancient knowledge for all to benefit and take with us inspiration to socially change our immediate communities.

She is one of the great living elders in the arts and cultural sector on the continent who refuses to take a break because she has the work to do. She has adopted many of us into the family of African pride. Her private home in Bluff, Durban has become a museum of her personal collection spanning fourty years. Her Peace Garden welcomes you to another world that is serene, tranquil and offers sense of belonging as you are journeyed to all the parts of the world through what she has been able to collect and now shares generously with the public. The garden is resplendent of all the beautiful fauna and flora close to her soul. This garden is an artistic tapestry of humankind.

Talking about this Heroine of Afrikan Storytelling, Professor Njabulo Ndebele has emphasized that "Performing artists such Gcina Mhlophe are constantly raising the bar. Gcina Mhlophe can be counted on to push the limits and she always will." Though Ndebele wrote this decades ago, Mama Gcina continues to push the limits. This is evident in new talents she brings to the festivals annually. I was introduced to the talented young Afro soul musician Zinhle Madela, a blind guitarist Khazozo, community musical bands such as KCAP drumming ensemble and group of young dancers called Usiko Cultural Group. Here I was reminded of the African ancient wisdom which stipulates that the drums of Africa are not merely musical instruments but to a large extent a means of healing.

Participating cultural workers on the festivals are intergenerational, intercontinental and intercultural. There was an amazing drummer from Cape Town who always mesmerizes me with her skill on the drum. Her name is Thandi Swaartbooi and her beating of the drum connects you straight to your soul. Sanusi Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa, punctuates that "The drumbeat can summon tears from the springs of our eyes and drive our souls deep into the carvens of sorrow, or it can raise us to the very peak of elation." 

The inclusion of drums in most events organized by Dr Gcina Mhlophe and her organizations is significant and must be noted with great appreciation and thorough tuned ancient wisdom. She does not only cajole the Abaphantsi or Abaphezulu or Abangoma to be in our midst but she understands that the drum beat has a soothing effect which creates a restful feeling. She understands that the beat of drums can cure what no medicine can cure; it can heal the ills of the mind and the very soul in the body of individuals.

How does she put all this together? She must be having a funding from government. No that is not always the case because you need to be a beggar or sometimes closely related to officials in order to be funded by the government of South Africa when it comes to the arts. With  or without funding this incredible woman along with her team 'make the pots' in the street lingo for making it happen against odds.

Her undying spirit of greatness and contribution to the better communities in Afrika should inspire this generation and those generations ahead. Organizing a project of Nozincwadi Storytelling and Book Festival magnitudineous caliber surely requires processes of thinking, analyzing, discussing, defining and redefining one's attitudes and positions towards contemporary art and culture at large. I have since, the first invitation last year, believed that what this entails in terms of delivering a provocative and discernible set of activities under which contemporary art, artists and intellectuals could gather - would of course be nothing less than questions driven by intellectual and artistic probings, in which certain failures of faith intervene. Such failures are part of apparatus of constructing honest critical work and also direct one to faults and cracks that exists within ones reasoned position. Our participation in Dr Gcina Mhlophe's initiatives and honest feedback to her and her team will go a long way in improving and probing old and new approaches. Here is to many more years of Nozincwadi Storytelling and Book Festival with more expanded national, continental and global reach.