Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) said Wednesday it gained experience from the first edition of its Cultural, Research and Innovation Festival.
It says, this year, they want to showcase more cultural activities.
The two-day festival starts tomorrow and ends on Saturday.
Director of Bingu School of Culture and Heritage , which is under Must, Atikonda Mtenje Mkochi, said the festival would showcase all things culture and science.
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“We would like to provide a bigger platform for young and established artists to participate and collaborate. We, therefore, have many staff and students from Must—as well as artists and innovators from all over Malawi—who will perform and exhibit things,” she said.
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Mkochi said this year they were also bringing in Malipenga dancers from Nkhata Bay, women from Khulubvi working on ceramics, tchopa dancers from January Village in Thyolo Prison and Ingoma dancers from Chichiri.
She said one of the activities scheduled for the first day during this year’s festival was a research symposium.
“We are excited to introduce five thinkers who will present research papers at the symposium. The first presenter will be Professor Lampiao,” Mtenje Mkochi said.
She said through the symposium, industry players would discuss issues around the theme ‘Culture: A Niche for Innovation and Technological Development’.
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“The theme has been informed by the understanding that we are living in the fourth Industrial Revolution digital era characterised by a fusion of technologies which blur the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres and we would like to see how culture and the arts can be a niche for innovation and technology,” Mtenje Mkochi said.
She said the festival aligned well the People and Society pillar in Must’s strategic plan.
“We have had some success stories since last year’s edition. We have also had a lot of partnerships since last year’s festival. A good example is the memorandum of understanding we signed with Musicians Union of Malawi,” Mtenje Mkochi said.
She said they were anticipating more people this year, saying the festival was one way of celebrating Must’s 10 years of existence.
“Must is turning 10 this year. As such, we are having many activities to celebrate the feat,” Mtenje Mkochi said.
Some of the artists set to perform at the festival, which is taking place on the same weekend with Blantyre Arts Festival and Mulhakho wa Alhomwe, include Jetu and Slyc C.
