Tag: Kungoni Centre
Kungoni Centre of Culture and Art was establish in 1976 by Claude Boucher Chisale at Mua Mission to celebrate the wealth of Malawi’s cultural and artistic inheritance.
The first Saturday of August is devoted to an of public thanksgiving in which all those who have contributed to the life of Kungoni Centre and Mua Mission over the years are remembered in song and dance. The Open Day is named in honour of Jean-Baptiste Champmartin (Bambo Chamare), who served at Mua Mission from 1908 till 1949.
Each year a team is chosen for the Open Day. The theme of 2013 was about ‘change’. The celebration offers a reflection on the Chewa proverbs that advises cautious acceptance in the face of ‘change’: “Time cannot be stopped. When you see what is new, don’t through away the past!”
Join us in reliving the Open Day of 3rd August 2013 with the following DVDs: Inculturated Eucharistic Celebration (Vol. 1). Chisudzo: A play to measure the present by reflection on the past (Vol. 2). Cultural Danse (Vol. 3).
Takulandirani! You are welcome!
The next Open Day will be held at Kungoni Centre of Culture and Art on Saturday the 2nd August 2014.
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- Kungoni Centre of Culture and Art Logo
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- Jean-Baptiste Champmartin 1908
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- Jean-Baptiste Champmartin 1949
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- Inculturated Eucharistic Celebration (Vol. 1)
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- Chisudzo: A play to measure the present by reflection on the past (Vol. 2)
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- Cultural Danse (Vol. 3)
New DVD from Kungoni Centre in Mua, Malawi
This documentary, produced by Kungoni Centre of Culture and Art, presents a collection of 160 Gule characters filmed by Claude Boucher Chisale over 25 years (1988 to 2012) in the central Malawian areas of Mua, Mtakataka, Kapiri and Golomoti.
It reveals Gule Wamkulu as the storehouse of Chewa culture, showing the richness, creativity and originality of the Great Dance, which is placed at the service of the Mwambo, the teaching of the ancestors.
The film offers first-hand experience of the tremendous variety of characters and seeks to understand their hidden messages. It comprises a selection of sequences taken from the 800 hours of filming that Boucher has completed during these last three decades.
The key to an in-depth understanding of the Gule characters is to be found in Boucher’s two recent publications: “When Animals Sing and Spirits Dance’ (Oxford 2012) and its accompanying website; www.kasiyamaliro.org.
The DVD introduces the author and illustrates the numerous contexts in which Gule Wamkulu is performed: rain ceremonies, initiation, chieftainship, eldership, spirit possession, funeral commemoration, institutional and village festivals and political and health development rallies. The 160 Gule characters selected for this production are then presented in alphabetical order.
The film offers a full visual experience of what has been described in the two publications mentioned above. It complements the publications and invites deeper immersion into Chewa culture.
@ Kungoni 2012. Running time: 121 minutes.