MAIN PICTURE: Cultural Tourism isn’t all about traditional dances only. INSERT: Mrs Shirley Mathonga is one artist who has modernised chikisa dressing, manyatera, matimwa and artefacts for tourists (left). Traditional food can be marketed to cultural tourists (top)
IN our previous tourism article we discussed how trans-frontier tourism benefits the economy of Zimbabwe. Much emphasis was put on the Great Limpopo Cultural Trade Fair which partnered this paper as its official print media communicator.
The cultural trade fair shall take place at Mhlanguleni Business Centre in Chiredzi south from 28-31 July this year. The fair is a living testimony that culture can stir tourism. Delegates shall pour into the country from South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique. But do our own people really understand culture as a driver of the economy?
Cultural Tourism can be described in simple terms as travel in which a tourist is concerned with experiencing cultural environments. The environment may include landscapes, visual and performing arts, lifestyle of local people, values, language, religion, traditions and events.
In the world there are four main culture groupings being high culture, sub culture, popular culture and global culture. There are other sub groupings that follow the aforesaid ones. It’s the high culture group which is the main consumer of cultural tourism. The high culture’s only short coming is that it’s too reserved that it doesn’t allow the other cultures to enjoy its “elite” status.
Most African cultures fall in the sub culture category. The positive thing that people of sub culture have is that they understand each other and have many cultural similarities despite that politically, religiously and economically they might be in-tolerating each other. Socially, cultural tourism has broken the hatred and xenophobia barriers and has promoted peace, friendship and understanding between the host destination and the tourists.
Zimbabwe this year launched Culture Week which is observed each May to promote cultural practices and improve understanding and cooperation among people from different cultures. The theme for this year’s edition was “Culture Week – towards increased community participation.”
If what transpired in Chipinge at the district commemorations of the Culture Week is a reflection of how local people view their culture across the country, would it be a crime to say that the current generation understands none or appreciates less of cultural tourism. A handful of participants were present in Gaza Stadium. It’s surprising that out of the whole district, only four community Muchongoyo dance groups and only two school groups participated.
People should not misunderstand culture as restricted to dances only. Food, dressing, music, language, arts and crafts all define culture. None of the later branches of culture were displayed at all.
Reasons for the less appreciation of local culture might include that global and popular culture may have overtaken sub culture. But if one gives an eagle’s eye at the situation, one would observe that it’s neither the global nor the popular culture that has eroded the current generation. Their culture has no definition at all. It’s a polluted culture quite different from global and popular culture. Global and popular culture has definitions and identity.
The generation’s noisy gong music, the tight, revealing clothes and fads, the language whose words are not found in any dictionary leave one wondering where the country is being taken to. If things continue like this, truly cultural tourism is heading for the intensive care unit. Who can travel from abroad to view this cultural erosion?
One issue that people should keep in mind is that cultural tourists descend on our country to experience what they don’t have in their home countries. For instance, tourists from abroad folk out more than $3 500 travelling to Zimbabwe to view the Victoria Falls because the Falls are unique and only found here. Then why despise own unique culture?
Tsonga (also known as Shangaan) and Ndau people are identified by dressing that includes chikisa (multi-coloured skirts), manyatera (sandals), maqeyo (head pins) matimwa (multi-coloured beads) and madhuku (multi-coloured doiks). Their food includes mopane worm and bull frog dishes. Dances include Muchongoyo and Chokoto. They boost of a closely knit family setup. That’s what should people capitalise on to attract tourists to the region.
Locals don’t need to be primitive in order to attract cultural tourists. The cultural aspects can be a bit modified to match current trends while due care is needed not to dilute the culture itself. A good example is the manyatera sandal which has been modified to resemble modern footwear but still maintains its original nyatera flavour.
A good example is the manyatera sandal which has been modified to resemble modern footwear but still maintains its original nyatera flavour. People can pluck a leaf from Mrs Shirley Mathonga, an artist who has modified Chikisa dressing, manyatera and other Ndau artefacts to suit modern trend but they still maintain cultural flavour. If all goes well, her products shall be on display at this edition of the Great Limpopo Cultural Trade Fair.
Communities should start taking culture as a driver of tourism, and the economy.