The Tumaini Arts Festival returns this weekend at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa. The event aims at promoting unity among people from diverse backgrounds. Our Arts Editor EDITH GONDWE caught up with the event founder Menes La Plume for details.
Q
: Tumaini Festival is on this weekend. Is everything set for the festival?
A
: All preparations for Malawi’s largest music and cultural celebration, the Tumaini Festival, have been finalised. Tumaini Festival is returning to the grounds of Dzaleka Refugee Camp today November 2-3.
Q
: Tell us more about what to expect during this year’s festival?
A
: Celebrating its fifth anniversary, the annual festival has added a new package; the Tumaini Home Stay Experience. The festival will open doors of the refugee camp to visitors from Malawi and around the world to stay in the camp during the festival.
Q
: Who is sponsoring the event?
A
: As we celebrate five years of the festival’s existence, I am happy that the festival is growing. We are thankful for the support we have received from our sponsors, supporters and people at large. We have worked hard to bring the best this year and that is why we decided t make it two days. Previously, we were holding it for one day.
Q
: What should patrons expect?
A
: At the festival, people will be treated to music, performances, poetry, theatre, acrobatics and dance [traditional and contemporary]. All the performances will take place in five areas: two stages [main stage and youth stage], a poetry corner, a theatre corner, and a cultural ground [for traditional dances]. There will also be an arts exhibition space and a children’s play space.
Q
: Who are some of the artists performing this year?
A
: The festival’s line-up includes Patience Namadingo, Erik Paliani, The Great Angels Choir, Theo Thomson, CO, Nepman, Annemarrie Quinn, Amahoro Drummers and The Wailing Brothers.
Q
: Your final words?
A
: Tumaini Festival aims at bringing joy and hope to refugees, and also promotes the talents of refugees and the camp itself as a place of unity, peace, coexistence and harmony. Tumaini is a Swahili word meaning ‘Hope’.
Also note that Dzaleka Camp is the only permanent refugee camp in Malawi. It is located in Dowa and has a population of approximately 32 000 refugees and asylum seekers mainly from Democratic Republic of Congo, [DRC] Rwanda and Burundi. It also has smaller numbers of people from Somalia, Ethiopia and other countries. There is rich diversity at Dzaleka Camp that everyone can discover and learn from. Each of the forcibly displaced persons in Dzaleka is a survivor and has an inspiring story to tell.
Tumaini was founded in 2014. The previous four editions have seen over 24 000 people attending the event and 153 performers from Malawi, DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Norway, Japan, Brazil, Mozambique, Belgium, UK, Italy, Somalia and South Korea. n
