Manicaland schools clash in quiz competition

Entertainment Correspondent
NATIONAL Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) will today (Friday) hold the regional heritage quiz finals at Mutare Museum with seven schools set to battle it out. The heritage quiz competition is National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe’s annual flagship event for primary schools and this year the competition will be running under the theme: “Museums and Cultural Landscapes”.

The finals will pit district champions from each of the seven districts in Manicaland namely, Chimanimani Primary School (Chimanimani), Chipinge Primary School (Chipinge), Nyakatsapa Primary School (Mutasa), Murambinda (Buhera), Baring Primary School (Mutare), John Cowie (Makoni) and Mt Mellary Primary School (Nyanga).

Murambinda B Primary School are the defending champions.

The seven schools from the province’s seven districts will battle it out for the sole ticket to represent the province at the national finals to be held in May 2016 in Gweru.

NMMZ marketing officer, Lloyd Makonya, said one of the key aims in holding the competition was to promote an understanding and appreciation of Zimbabwe’s heritage by young people.

“The theme: ‘Museums and cultural landscapes’ was developed to encourage a reflection on the museum’s specific relationship with its context. Landscape is, precisely, the context in which we live and which surrounds us, with all of the images and symbols that identify and characterise it.

“Cultural landscapes define the sense of a “place”, and embody the inextricable link between tangible and intangible heritage.

“As such, cultural landscapes are both material evidence and an image we inherit.

“There is an individual and collective responsibility not only to actively protect and safeguard cultural landscapes in the face of rapid and in recent decades sometimes irreversible transformations, but also understand their aura as living heritage,” he said.

Meanwhile, work in the revamping of the Beit gallery at Mutare Museum is nearing completion with new interactive displays being incorporated in the revamping exercise. This will provide a new refreshing experience to the museum visitor and enhance the already rich and diversified Mutare Museum collection.