Musician in ‘Bridge To Africa’ initiative

Arts Correspondent Kundai Marunya

Sweden based musician Makandire Chezhira Chikutu a.k.a ManLuckerz is set to introduce an initiative that bridges indigenous knowledge systems, culture and tradition between Africa and Europe.

Dubbed “Bridge To Africa” (BTA)the initiative will see traditional music from the continent being spread across Europe through live music performances.

ManLuckerz said he is formulating more ways to reinforce cultural exchange between Africa and Europe.

“I have in the past been actively involved in enhancing the knowledge of Africa, especially Zimbabwe, its music and culture in Europe through workshops and live performances”, he said.

“Covid-19 slowed down many cultural exchange initiatives but I think its time will move a gear up in educating the world about our culture, music and tradition.

“We are currently consulting various cultural stakeholders to formulate ways to bridge the knowledge gaps between Africa and Europe”.

The Zim Traditional Unity Band front-man said African culture is widely misunderstood.

“In many instances our culture, tradition and knowledge systems are dismissed as primitive because they are misunderstood even by our own people,” said ManLuckerz.

“We need to educate first our own children to take pride in our tradition then the rest of the world, and this can only be done if all stakeholders come together and collaborate in exchange programs and policy formulation”.
Manluckerz said he will ignite BTA through the Zim Traditional Unity band.

“I really want to make people aware of how important it is to strengthen the cultural bridge by sharing our rich heritage with Europe,” he said.

“I want to develop cooperation within the cultural industry and the first step is through traditional music performance in Europe and increasing their visibility.

“I will start with my own band as we continue to engage other cultural players for collaborative performances”.

ManLuckerz will be sharing Zimbabwean traditional music at Harrys Klubb in Uppsala, Sweden on April 22.

He will take this opportunity to introduce the BTA initiative to the world.