UNWTO compilation CD an anaemic offering

By Andrew Mulenga

Popular local music is thriving today probably more than any other moment in the history of contemporary Zambian music and one cannot imagine how difficult it should be to compile a collection of it on to a single CD. Who do you include and who do you leave out? How do you select the songs, is it by period, presumed artistic merit or sheer popularity?



The front cover of the UNWTO Zambian
music CD compilation

Currently you have awfully popular Zambian by-products of hip-hop and Jamaican dancehall ruling the radio airwaves, pub and nightclub scenes, one cannot go anywhere without being confronted by the likes of the annoyingly infectious No More Love by Macky 2 Ft. K'millian or the equally contagious Go Mama Go by newcomer Karasa, tunes to which you will be caught singing along without realising.

Artists are recording music at a prolifically dizzying pace that is hard to keep up with, the list is endless. You have newcomers such as Muzo aka Alfonso a rapper from Kasama who has sent shivers in the feud-driven ranks of the Zambian rap scene with his hard hitting, multisyllabic rhymes in old-world Bemba, which is beyond his years and borrows heavily from the proverbs and griot-type praise singers of Northern Province. Then there is the likes of the amoebic Danny – over the years his name has carried the suffix of his latest albums ‘Masiku Yonse’, ‘Kaya’, ‘Yakumbuyo’– that has inspired an entire generation of vocalists. There is also Cactus Agony, Petersen, Mozegator, Dalisoul, Slap Dee, Tommy D, Ruff Kid, B-Flow, B1, Alfa Romeo, Roberto, Shyman, Kay Figo, Judy Yo and the reigning queen of popular Zambian music herself Mampi.

But as much as these are not easy to keep up with, contemporary Zambian music has a deep reservoir to draw from if we were to step back a few decades with the likes of Akim Simukonda, Paul Ngozi, Mike Nyoni, Patrick Chisembele, Joyce Nyirongo, Anna Mwale, Muriel Mwamba, Rikki Ililonga, Michael Kumwenda, Daddy Zemus, Laban Kalunga, Lazerous Tembo the legendary Nashil Pitchen Kazembe or the apotheotic Alick Nkhata giving us some of the country's most popular and at the same time influential music over the years.

Paradoxically, none of these famous names, past and present made it on to the recently released UNWTO music compilation CD, “Take Zambia Home with You”, “A Compilation Of The Best In Zambian Music”.

The back cover and playlist

The CD was put together by the National Arts Council (NAC) as a small token that visiting delegates to the 20^th general assembly could “take home” with them as the writing in the cover jacket suggests.

“This CD compilation comprises some of Zambia’s finest contemporary music. The theme, ‘Take Zambia Home with you’ was specially coined to convey a message of Zambian hospitality to the participants of the 20^th UNWTO General Assembly, 24^th to 29^th August 2013. We hope each and every person will be able to enjoy Zambian culture and heritage by taking the best of Zambian music with them when they travel back to their homes,” reads the CD jacket text.

The 15 track compilation only features Emmanuel Mulemena, Maureen Lilanda, Smokey Haangala, Lily T, Keith Mlevu, Glorious Band, Amayenge, JK, Exile, Dandy Crazy, Alice Chuma, Sakala Brothers, PK Chishala, Nasty D and Indie K in that particular sequence.

These are without doubt some of the biggest names ever to grace the Zambian and to a certain extent international airwaves and the playlist makes a point of acknowledging pioneers such as Mulemena, Mlevu and Haangala while keeping an eye or ear rather on PK Chishala, Amayenge, the Sakala Brothers and the newer crop of artistes.

However, the list is somewhat anaemic in that it is lacking in folk anthems, of which we have so many, some provided by bands such as Green Mamba, Mashombe Blue Jeans, Los Comrados, Masasu, Oliya, Serenje Kalindula Band, Kalambo Hit Parade, Black Power Band, Julizya or the Mulemena Boys.

But again most of these are the kings of Kalindula, at their peak in the 1980s and it is not clear whether the CD was intended as a historic anthology of Zambian music, but judging from the hodgepodge of the selection one gets the feeling that it was.

Again why NAC so easily makes its own decisions without occasionally consulting the general public is a question an arts writer, thankfully, does not have to speculate on. There was enough time to compile this CD, there was no harm in calling on the public to vote for their favourite songs from the 1970s through to 2013 while at the same time categorising the genres. There are a lot of brains out there including within NAC itself and a transparent voting system through either the national broadcaster Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) or a telecommunication company could have been designed. Frankly, the list at hand looks like the playlist from a personal mobile phone or iPod.

Sadly, for most of the artistes on the CD, the works that made it on the compilation are not even their greatest or indeed most popular works.

Shuka Shuka is Mulemena’s offering. This is followed by Maureen Lilanda’s Mumba, Smokey Haangala’s Baala Ngombe, Osalila by Lily T, Isambo Lyamfwa by Glorious Band, Dailesi by Amayenge, Akapilipili by JK, Kumvela Nimvela by Exile (now known as Izreal), Chintelelwe Chandi by Dandy Crazy, Okondewa by Alice Chuma, Londole by Sakala Brothers, Chimbayambaya Nsenda by PK Chishala, Aitaya by Nasty D and Chipuba (chandi) by Indie K.

Those familiar with these tracks will notice that they are an assortment of love songs and moral essays, which is pretty much the main narrative of Zambian music, be it 1970s folk music and Zamrock, Kalindula of the 1980s and early 1990s, or the R&B-Hiphop- spiced sound of the late 1990s through to 2013.

It is alright to have all this music on one CD, no matter how varied it is in style, but there is no missing the sonic thinness on a few of the songs, particularly the older music most of which needs to be re-mastered. The audible difference between songs such as Mulemena’s Shuka Shuka and Lilanda’s Mumba is unmistakable. As the graceful guitar lines of Shuka Shuka die down, Mumba comes on with the ear-splitting, thump of a baseline that it may not necessarily have but is exaggerated and made noticeable because the newer song is played after an old recording that has not been upgraded by sound experts in the studio.

This continues as Mumba dies down for the older Baala Ng’ombe which is followed by again the newer Osalila subsequently creating an undulating audio pattern of lower to higher sound output. Not really the quality one would like to see a foreign visitor “take home” as a piece of Zambia.

Speaking of foreign visitors, as much as the delegates to the UNWTO meeting were very busy and almost kept within the confines of the general assembly at all times, a few of them did venture into the city of Livingstone to sample its vibrant metropolitan nightlife which is easy to “bar hop” owing to the close proximity of the club scene circuit namely; Limpo’s, East Point, Pub & Grill, Masaka, Chez Ntemba and Fairmount Hotel.

In all these pubs and clubs, the buttock-clenching tunes – or club bangers as they are called – No More Love by Macky 2 featuring K’millian, Go Mama Go by Karasa, Cry of a Woman by self-proclaimed king of Zambian dance hall music B Flow featuring Judy or Foolish Me by Chef 187 Ft. Mo$Money are the everyday anthems and without doubt any delegate – and there were quite a few – that found themselves on a night out surely had a go at dancing to these tracks.  

As such there would have been no harm in having them all on the CD because they are not essentially available in stores as some of the artistes have opted to sell their music from their car boots and backpacks; surely the adventurous delegates would no doubt bop their heads to these catchy pop tunes when they get back to Sri Lanka, Columbia, Spain or wherever it is they came from as they remember a night out on the town in Zambia’s tourist capital.

In essence, a 15 track CD was insufficient. What NAC could have done was arrange a double CD or even a three disk gift pack with different genres of Zambian music, this was surely an opportunity, and it is not every day that government funds a music compilation. It appears just as we missed the opportunity of having an updated and comprehensive catalogue of Zambian visual arts for the UNWTO exhibition at the Livingstone museum, we missed the opportunity to have a comprehensive compilation of Zambian music probably ranging from the unbreakable Big Gold Six Band’s Msinje Wazaza to meteorically rising hip-hop group Zone Fam’s Translate.

Of course here, one can argue that the most popular artists of today despite their bubble-gum character also deserved a chance to be on the CD even though they may appeal primarily to a younger demographic, and possess a sound that may not exactly be identified as Zambian. After all there is nothing authentically Zambian about Akapilipili by JK, Kumvela Nimvela by Exile or Chintelelwe Chandi by Dandy Crazy except for the languages in which they are sang.

Still on popularity, some of the country’s most popular singers are gospel artistes. Even though a few may seem to be teetering along the thinning line between Christian music and secular music, the only difference often being the mere mention of Jesus Christ. You have well-liked acts such as hip-hop gospel artiste Mag 44, the eclectic Pompi and Kings with his DRC influenced, highly danceable  brand of gospel that rivals secular Congolese singers Werasone and Fali Ipupa’s in its trouser-tearing ability.

As to whether they garner their popularity from the fact that they too appear to have adopted the trendy African American influenced “bling” lifestyle popularised in R&B-hip-hop videos, characterized by fancy cars and flashy clothes, or indeed there is some salvation to be found in their lyrics, it is not clear but it remains a matter of fact that they are extremely popular, they sing to sold-out audiences, enjoy regular airplay and they are also favourites on long distance buses.

But still, it appears no amount of popularity or artistic merit can land these recording artistes on to the UNWTO CD because their Christian themed lyrics, and regardless of whether Zambia is arguably the only self-proclaimed Christian nation on the planet, this is no licence to include religious music on a disk that will be handed out to delegates of varied cultures and belief systems.

Anyway, some of the gospel artistes have collaborated with secular singers and musicians particularly on Chipolopolo football anthems. During the short period that Zambia reigned as African Soccer Champions, our airwaves received a barrage of new songs dedicated to the victorious Zambia National team and some of them do make quite good listening, there would have been no harm in tossing one on the CD. Besides, football is deep rooted in Zambia and how better to take a piece of the country home than a popular football song that has Zambia’s name chanted continuously in its lyrics.

But in any case, maybe non-Zambians have a better ear at determining what can be classified as authentically Zambian than we do ourselves. Take the Zambia Roadside 1 and 2 series of CDs for instance, you can tell that a lot of work and research went into compiling a Tonga, Ila, Lozi, Leya, Aushi and Bemba CD.

“Zambia's musical diversity and richness is indeed a true natural resource, but to this day it is still underestimated and relatively unknown. Michael Baird presents here upbeat rural recordings with deep dance grooves, marvellous drumming, an old xylophone master, exquisite vocal harmonising, uplifting gospel music Zambian-style, the ancient kalumbu bow - a mixture of youth and tradition!”, reads the text on Roadside 2, a CD put together by Michael Baird of Holland recently through the Dutch imprint Sharp Wood (SWP), the same label that compiled Zambush Vol. 1: Zambian Hits from the 80s, Zambush Vol. 2: Zambian Hits from the 60s and 70s which features The Big Gold Six, Emmanuel Mulemena, Nashil Pichen Kazembe and  Bestin Mwanza.

These CDs have very high audio quality despite most of the music having first been recorded in the post-colonial 1960s. These well compiled CDs would have been gems to give delegates to take home with them, but it is not clear what piece of us it is that we really wanted our guests to take home with them. But then, there is always a next time.  

Let’s get serious

By Andrew Mulenga

The main contemporary art exhibition that was held at the Livingstone Museum for the just ended UNWTO general assembly was regarded by many as representative of the cream of Zambian visual arts talent.

Officiating at the opening on August 23, the second lady, Dr Charlotte Scott, herself an enthusiastic follower of Zambian visual arts went to the harmless extent of safely speculating that it was an all-inclusive representation of Zambian artists declaring it was not “the usual suspects of Lusaka or of Livingstone”.

As much as one would want to agree with her honour the second lady that the show did not have “the usual suspects”, it was in fact teeming with them. Almost at every turn there was a familiar name, names that you could almost speak in alphabetical order, even from the top of your head, which of course is not an issue if indeed their works represent the country’s finest.

Artist Suse Kasokota walks through
the exhibition at the Livingstone museum.
In the foreground is his work Ano Domini

But what remains a lingering mystery is the selection of the so-called all inclusive works which only included four female Zambian artists namely Mulenga Mulenga, Agnes Buya Yombwe and the mother and daughter duo of Claire and Alina Mateke. Mulenga was the only one representing the rest of Zambia whereas Yombwe and the Matekes are Livingstone-based, meaning they may have only been included because they were “local”.

Surely, it cannot be said that Zambia is short of female artists, whatever happened to Milumbe Haimba, Sylvia Mwando, Bridget Sakwana, Angela Kalunga, Caroline Miyoba, Agnes Lubumbashi, Tessie Lombe and young Gladys Kalichini who was in town for the Insaka International Artists Workshop?

Anyway, the UNWTO show was not a women empowerment exhibition, but some will remember however, the dizzying number of female artists that crawled out of the woodworks during a Women’s Day exhibition at the Lusaka Museum in 2010, it tells you that they do exist and can be available if called upon.

Still, it is not only the selection of works that remains a whodunit, but the panel of adjudicators if at all there was one was equally enigmatic and as difficult to place a finger on as a tiny blob of mercury.

Neither anyone from the Visual Arts Council (VAC) executive nor its mother body the National Arts Council (NAC) was able to explain how the selection of works was made, who was sitting on the mediating panel or how the call to artists was made. But this is understood because they were all very busy, after all the whole world was understood to be in Livingstone.

In any case, there is probably more openness in a papal conclave than there was in the selection of artists and works for what was meant to be one of the country’s most important art exhibitions ever. These are the kind of exhibitions that career artists mention in their portfolios for goodness sake.  An exhibition of not only national, but to a certain extent international importance – if you would like to consider the UNWTO general assembly – with government funding that rarely happens.

The exhibition also had what apparently was supposed to be an exhibition catalogue, a brilliant idea as far as ideas go. Anyone who has visited a well-organised exhibition will attest that a good catalogue provides viewers not only the opportunity to learn more about the theme of the show as well as the chance to learn more about the individual artists but even a chance to “take the exhibition home” with them, which again was in line with the UNWTO exhibitions theme “Take Zambia Home With You”.

The exhibition catalogue in question, a well printed, glossy 22-page booklet should not have been printed at all. To start with, the publication tries to give what turns out to be a weak overview of Zambian Art and Culture, followed by misplaced biographies of Zambia’s five-or-so museums which were not necessary as the museums are still under the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs which has nothing to do with the contemporary art exhibition.

The booklet goes further to have a page titled Zambian Art at a Glance, which is perfectly okay if the text was not outdated owing to the fact that it reads like a paragraph from Gabrielle Ellison’s book Art In Zambia, revealing either a lack of time for research by the authors or indeed laziness. If the publication’s target were the international visitors, one has also to be very careful in suggesting that Zambia is “adequately represented in the diaspora with renowned artists”. It is a known fact that there is very scanty information on what so-called diaspora artists are up to, whether they are practicing art or not, what galleries are they affiliated to? Or do they market their own work.

The international contemporary art scene is an extremely lucrative and therefore highly competitive and fast paced one, what is Zambia’s share into this market and who are her representatives, readers are not daft more so foreign ones. Are there any Zambian’s exhibiting alongside Chéri Samba from Congo, South Africa’s Johannes Phokela, Ghana’s El Anatsui or the British-Nigerian Yinka Shonibare to name just a handful of artists whom the west regards as African contemporary art superstars? Are there any Zambians selling with the London auction house Bonham’s or showing at the Tate Modern?

As much as we may be proud of our brothers and sisters in the diaspora who go abroad on the grounds of academic study, we never hear of them graduating or continuing on their trajectory of pursuing greater heights in the arts, not that it is anyone’s business but their own.

But the worst misdeed this booklet commits is that it only had about thirty of the exhibiting artists’ biographies, which is nearly half the number of the total group that had works on display. Once more all these biographies are outdated, starting from the profiles themselves to the artists’ mug shots, again they all look like they were clearly lifted from either Ellison’s book or one of the Lechwe Art Trust collection catalogues, sheer laziness on the part of the authors. One does not simply copy another’s work and assume no one will notice. Frankly speaking the small, nine-page catalogue for the on-going Graphic Art of Zambia exhibition in Choma is better arranged and its biographies too are freshly written and up to date, meaning whoever did it, took time to research.

The UNWTO exhibition had newcomers we have never heard of such as 17-year-old Alina Mateke who was the youngest in the show, this was an opportunity for her likes to be introduced and launched onto the scene, seeing someone had already decided to put her in a major exhibition.

This was an opportunity for us to have  beautifully organised catalogue to serve as a historic reference book in Zambian art practice seeing we do not have any apart from the Ellison book and Lechwe catalogues, but we just had to throw away the opportunity did we not?.

But overall one could sense serious inefficiency throughout the run of the exhibition. One morning, about two days after the opening, this author met an American couple who were very eager to buy two wood sculptures from the exhibition, the gallery attendants were in a muddle when the couple asked how much it would cost to ship the art to the US. Being polite, the couple excused themselves and said they will be back later in the day, just to give the gallery attendants a little time.

For sure, in the afternoon the couple returned but there was still no figure for shipment. When a quotation from a shipping company finally came through after a long series of phone calls between the gallery attendants and whoever was in charge of the exhibition itself, – most likely the VAC chairman who was busy at another venue at the time – the figure was so astronomical that the couple abandon the prospect all together and politely bade their farewells.

Honestly, if you are going to sell sculptures, you must at least have an idea how you will ship them to your potential customer, this is basic commercial gallery etiquette.

Speaking of sales, only one painting sold at the museum during the entire duration of the show, which is of no consequence, because exhibitions are not always about sales and any sober mind knew too well that delegates will not come and whisk away everything. But there were a lucky few that were able to sell when their works were taken to the UNWTO main conference marquee at the Royal Livingstone Hotel after an impromptu call from high office at the dead of night and the museum had to be opened so as the works could be transported there. Again another show of disorganisation. Was it not known that the main venue will have to be decorated too?

Externally, the exhibition was a success simply because it did take place. But the undercurrents show that it was haphazardly done and lacked transparency and seriousness.

Art is serious business and should not be taken lightly. If Zambian artists are to be taken seriously by their ministry or by the international art community they should start putting their act together, we cannot continue going in circles. Of course there are very few art professionals when it comes to arts management in the country, but a few do exist, and a few of them were trained at government expense and they can be found. The era of the know-it-all attitude and allowance-driven arts administration should come to an end.

If those at the rudder of the visual arts are incapable of steering them in the right direction, they should stand down and allow those who are capable to take over. This is a field that is about to flourish and there is no time for games, not when there is talk of a National Arts Culture and Heritage Commission and an impending opening of the country’s first National Art Gallery which from the look of things we are not yet ready to manage.

Arts, an important economic sector says second lady Dr Charlotte Scott

… Masebo promises to market art products

By Andrew Mulenga

Arts minister, Sylvia Masebo has promised a total revolution in the way the arts are run in the country and that on top of the list, government intends to fully support the artists by first and foremost helping them to market their products.

“I think that even you yourselves will be able to say that there are various steps that government has taken that show that this administration has attached great importance to the creative industry,” said Masebo officiating at the launch of Kamulanga, an on-going contemporary art exhibition by Zambian artists from various provinces held at the Livingstone National Museum, which was part of the arts and entertainment programme of the 20^th UNWTO general assembly.

Visual Arts Council Chairman Mulenga Chafilwa guides
Second Lady Charlotte Scott and Minister of Tourism and
Arts Sylvia Masebo through the Kamulanga art
Exhibition at the Livingstone National Museum

Kamulanga is allegedly an all-inclusive exhibition that features works from three generations being beginners, to the mid-career and seasoned artists, a fact that pleased the guest of honour, the second lady Dr Charlotte Scott as was reflected in her official speech.

Dr Scott, herself an enthusiastic follower of Zambian visual arts was pleased that it included artists from all over the country and it was not “the usual suspects of Lusaka or of Livingstone”, saying this it was a genuinely national collection and a reflection of lives and the people of the country, a reflection she thought in many cases mirrors the lives of the artists.

“Going through the works on display here is very genuinely a journey through the country and I think those of you who are visiting Zambia should take time to walk around the exhibition with one of the artists or other people who can help you understand the many rich parts of Zambian life which you might pick up on the first glance because some of them have a very deep meaning,” she gestured.

She said that she could not agree more with the appropriateness of the theme of the exhibition, Kamulanga, the Tonga word she loosely translated as “come and see”. She said she would like to make sure that this theme translates into what happens in the exhibition in the next few days and residents and visitors to Livingstone do come and see.

Masebo - government intends to fully support
artists by helping them to market their products

“The arts play a very important role in our lives as human beings. They should not be viewed as pieces of or mere decorations, most of the things we know today about our own ancestors are due to the artistic expressions left on rock surfaces in caves or other dwelling places they lived in at the time, art is a very important method of historical preservation,” she said.

The second lady, who was also matron for last year’s Amaka Arts Festival – and hosted a children’s’ art exhibition at government house  – added that the arts are an important economic sector capable of generating the much needed jobs and wealth which will in turn help reduce poverty and that there were a number of countries in the world today who’s economies heavily depend on the creative industries including film, theatre, music and the visual arts, and that is why this Patriotic Front government was trying to do everything possible to reorganise the sector through the creation of the National Arts Culture and Heritage Commission.

“We have also seen the realignment of the arts and culture sector into the ministry of tourism and the arts and I know through my own personal engagement how much and how long the artists waited for the ministry of the arts and how happy they were when it was created and I think this will help drive the process forward,” she said.

Dr. Scott said hosting the UNWTO general assembly has given Zambia an opportunity to showcase various art projects to the entire world and that the country had also been given the impetus it needed to rehabilitate, redecorate, and spruce up not only the Livingstone Museum but also the Maramba Cultural Village and the Livingstone Art Gallery which will be the first purpose built national art gallery in Zambia when completed.

Dr Scott - arts capable of generating
the much needed jobs and wealth

She stressed that whilst the general assembly was a single event that will be finished within a week anyway, the benefits of having these infrastructure will be long lasting and she would like to think it is not just the infrastructure but the whole experience of having organised such an event will have lasting benefits.

“Ladies and gentlemen it is evident that the government has put in a lot of resources in the organisation and hosting of the event and I'm therefore hopeful that all of you here this evening or that will visit in the next few days will be tempted and fall for the temptation of buying one or two pieces to take home with them,” she beckoned “I know that the theme the entertainment and exhibitions committee   put in place is “Take Zambia Home With You” so I hope that taking a piece of art will be a convenient, long lasting and legal and very good way of taking a piece of Zambia home with you which will also make all your friends envious of your trip.”

Dr Scott concluded her speech by congratulating the organisers as well as the exhibiting artists, she advised them not to wait for another international general assembly to set up such a show and that such exhibitions should be carried out more often. Read the full exhibition review of Kamulanga next week, only in your Saturday Post.