Bingu School of Culture and Heritage at Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) in Thyolo joins the rest of the country in celebrating Tourism Month by hosting its first ever Cultural and Research Innovation Festival.
The two-day festival will be held on September 29 and September 30 2023 with several activities set to take centre stage.
Bingu School of Culture and Heritage director Atikonda Mtenje- Mkochi said yesterday that Must is the people’s university, hence bringing a festival that will showcase and celebrate Malawian culture through various art forms such as music, dance, fine art, fashion and cuisine and at the same time synergising that with science and technology.
She said the festival, whose theme is ‘Cultural Heritage for Sustainable Development’, underscores the university’s endeavour to be looking beyond science and technology by finding human-centered ways of giving the majority of Malawians the opportunity to participate in fulfilling the aim of Malawi’s 2063 vision of becoming an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation.
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“The reconfiguration of African creative genius, cultural heritage and organisational forms, which are endowed in and practiced by Malawian indigenes, ought to be harnessed to enhance sustainable development,” she said.
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The director said the festival will feature displays of art and crafts such as ceramics, drawings and paintings, oral performances such as poetry and storytelling through folktales in indigenous languages, dances and music performances as well as local cuisine.
Performances will also include traditional dances by staff and students at Must.
She, however, said the aim of the festival is that communities surrounding Must and beyond should work together to drive development and that, as such, a dance group from Goliyati, January Tchopa Dance Group, will be performing with Must students and staff.
Mtenje-Mkochi also said that Must students will work with artists from Chikwawa and Kasungu in the making and playing of traditional instruments such as Mangolongondo, Zeze, Limba and Kaligo.
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Ethno-musician Waliko Makhala and Local Girl Keturah are also expected to perform at the festival, which will also display science innovations by students, staff and incubates at Must.
“People will also see displays from Must’s African Drone and Data Academy (Adda), Must Design Studio and Must Institute for Industrial Research and Innovation.
“We intend to make this festival annual. We want the event to be one that can be celebrated in the country and beyond. In the coming years, we would like to start with a conference where discussions on culture and heritage and their connection with science, technology, innovation and development are discussed and then we will be moving on to the festival,” she said.
Mtenje-Mkochi described culture as central to everything “we do and that it determines how we progress and respond to the world around us”.
“People are the custodians of culture. Innovations and technologies cannot be done in a vacuum. They are done for the people.
“Science, technology and innovations, therefore, have to be done in the context of the people. This festival synergises the two. It is an integration of science, technology and innovation with culture and heritage,” she said.
