Lighting Bae takes masterclass to Mozambique

AFTER holding lighting masterclasses in Harare, Bulawayo, and Mutare, renowned lighting designer, Mildred Moyo now popularly referred to as the “Lighting Bae” is set to carry out lighting design workshops in neighbouring Mozambique.

There, those in the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) will be taught on lighting for festivals, thanks to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Mozambique’s Provincial House of Culture of Sofala and Well-Dressed Fashion Events and Moyo’s Phenomenal Lighting and Power Solutions.

The three-day lighting masterclass will be held from September 12 to 14 in conjunction with the Gorongosa Mapaza Festival taking place on September 27 in commemoration of the World Tourism Day at the Cultural House Headquarters in Beira.

Moyo will facilitate the workshops and furnish festival artistes, staff/technical team, volunteers, lighting designers from hotel and tourist establishments, aspiring lighting designers, event promoters and producers as well as school students with industry-standard requisite knowledge on lighting design.

Interested parties will collaborate on an exchange programme of lighting workshops for Gorongosa Mapaza Festival attendees and participants to share knowledge, skills and best practices in lighting design and technology.

Provincial House of Culture of Sofala and Well-Dressed Fashion Events’ founder Bresneve Matezo told Chronicle Showbiz about how he met Lighting Bae.

“I met Mildred Moyo at the Cultural House in Mutare last year. During the course of conversation outside the venue during break time, we had a good connection.

“The objective of this lighting masterclass will be to forge partnerships and engage in cultural exchange over three days with the partners involved. The event will be a platform to exchange skills and expertise in respective areas of expertise and an opportunity to showcase cultural activities and explore tourism options and possibilities,” Matezo said.

At the workshop, he said learners will be taken through the fundamentals of power and problem-solving, stage directions, stage lighting principles, colour, lighting plot, director’s script, handling of equipment, safety, and hands-on exercises.

An elated Moyo said the cultural exchange programme will mutually benefit both parties.

“I’m excited to be collaborating with Mozambican artistes and aspiring lighting designers and technicians. It’s always been my dream to see Phenomenal Lighting and Power Solutions growing beyond our Zimbabwean borders and go international.

“It is our first masterclass outside Zimbabwe and this will mutually benefit Zimbabwe and Mozambique in the sharing of skills, knowledge and also inspire each other to better a sector that is seemingly forgotten about,” said Lighting Bae.

She will also tap from what she has learnt so far in London where she is pursuing a Masters in Light and Performance degree at Rose Bruford College.

“Being here (London) has taught me and furnished me with a wealth of experience in the lighting design field and I wish to share that knowledge with my fellow Africans. We want to make lighting a movement, a culture inculcated within the CCIs and a fully-functioning industry one step at a time,” she said.

Moyo has over a decade of experience in the lighting design scene working closely with the European Film Festival, Shoko Festival, Zimbabwe Jazz Festival and Zimbabwe German Society Shows, and British lighting hero Patrick Woodroffe whom she considers the “godfather of lighting”.

The trip to Mozambique will further strengthen ties between the two parties involved, culminating in a Mozambican entourage coming to Zimbabwe for the upcoming Phenomenal Festival of Lights taking place in Matopos later on a date yet to be unveiled. — @MbuleloMpofu