After 7 500 concerts and functions, 650 public discussions, over 90 book launches, 35 theatre productions, 150 touring acts and countless local acts and collaborations that emerged within, Book Café re-opens in March to a new space at central Harare.
Book Café will announce its dates for recommencement at the Prince Claus Award ceremony, taking place at the new premises, where Christa Meindersma, Director, will present the award.The award has been described as “a momentous achievement for Zimbabwean performing arts”. Book Café is amongst the first live performing arts venues of its kind to win the global award. Book Café was awarded for “culture and development”, on a platform of freedom of expression across music, poetry and theatre with public discussion, film and multi-disciplinary arts.
About 600 000 have entered the twin venues since opening as Book Cafe in 1997 with Luck Street Blues, while Mannenberg started in 2000 with historic performances by jazz pianist, Abdullah Ibrahim. The venues gave rise to the urban mbira phenomena, a Friday institution in Harare’s nightlife, pioneered stand-up comedy, championed freedom of expression, laid the foundations for slam poetry, and created major youth and female arts development programmes.
The venues were associated with many trends over the years, jazz and blues in the early years, the emergence of Afro-fusion and latterly with the reggae renaissance sweeping Zimbabwe. The Jury Report for the 2011 Prince Claus Award to the Book Cafe reads: “The Book Café is a vibrant platform for free cultural expression. Operating under the umbrella of Pamberi Trust, this unassuming café and bar presents more than 600 cultural events a year to enthusiastic capacity audiences from all racial and cultural groups and all sectors of Zimbabwean society”.
“Its open-door policy welcomes all genres and disciplines as well as new fusions and experiments. Live performances encompass spoken-word, poetry slams, stand-up comedy, literary readings, drama and all types of music, from traditional mbira, blues and jazz to hip hop and rap. It has developed strong links with the African music scene, frequently organising exchanges and hosting visiting musicians.”
“The Book Café runs artistic workshops and training programmes throughout the year, and provides access to rehearsal space and equipment. It emphasizes gender equality and youth development, running initiatives such as Flame (Female Literary, Arts and Music Enterprise) to promote women in the arts, and Bocapa (Book Café Academy of Performing Arts) open-mic sessions which are well-subscribed opportunities for new talent. Home to Zimbabwe’s thriving movement of protest poets, the Book Café is renowned for debates on current issues such as land justice or journalistic ethics, and for staging often controversial performances”.
“The Book Café is awarded for its exemplary support of culture and development in Zimbabwe, for the diversity, quality and wide reaching impact of its activities, for stimulating creativity and fostering aspiring talent, and for its tenacity and commitment in upholding freedom of expression”. The award, coincidentally, comes as Book Café commemorates 30 years since inception as Grassroots Books. That history led directly to a tradition of public discussion after Grassroots transformed into Book Café.
Over the years, Book Café has seen the beginnings of many artists who went on to acclaim in Zimbabwe and beyond. Gifted mbira star Chiwoniso traces her emergence to Book Café open mic sessions early in her career, before bursting into the international spotlight. Award-winning novelist Brian Chikwava was another early Book Café devotee; today he is an acclaimed novelist. Fine artist, comedian and poet Victor Mavedzenge, developing a career in fine arts in USA was an early Book Café volunteer.
Miriam Mandipira, beloved of jazz fans, performs in Copenhagen. Doyen of local comedy, Edgar Langeveldt recalls his first stand-up comedy, impromptu, at Book Café soon after it opened. Mighty Jazz Invitation had their first shows in Mannenberg. Slam poetry flourished at Book Café from a simple open mic format to regional platforms with monthly “House of Hunger” slams hosting hundreds of poets over the years, outreach in Zimbabwe, in Johannesburg and links to Kenya, Malawi, Swaziland and Ghana.
The slam exposed massive talent in spoken word; its poets have toured Africa and Europe. New-poets, styles and collaborations emerged in its wake, like Cde Fatso and Chabvondoka, Outspoken and The Essence, Xapa Mathazia, Cynthia “Flowchyld” Marangwanda and many more. The slam spawned the Zimbabwe Poets for Human Rights. For two years running Book Café has hosted Poetry Africa, from Durban’s Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal.
As well as staging some of Zimbabwe’s most celebrated artistes — Oliver Mtukudzi, Suluman Chimbetu, Paul Lunga, Dave Ndoro, Chiwoniso Maraire, Victor Kunonga, Dudu Manhenga, Mawungira Enharira, Mbira Dzenharira, Transit Crew, MicInity and Cool Crooners to name a few, Book Café has hosted hundreds of African and international writers, poets, musicians, speakers, dance and theatre productions.
The Book Café remembers artists who passed through its stage, and have now passed on — the legendary poet Julius Chingono, mbira maestros Adam Chisvo, Ephat Mujuru, Taku Mafika; the wondrous Sam Mtukudzi, composer and activist Keith Goddard, arts journalist Novell Zwangendaba, Chimurenga pioneer Joshua Dube, guitarist and producer Benny Miller and many others.The Book Café receives the Prince Claus Award in partnership with the huge number and diversity of artistes that have performed and worked alongside and within; Book Café salutes their courage and creativity. (Dailynews)
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