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.
Tag: Mua
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.