The urgent need for action

Stories

There’s an urgent need to take action to ensure that the practices of democracy evolve so that democracy works for sustainability.

Urgency, and crisis, can bring out the best as well as the worst in people – often at the same time. And if people believe in the power of participation to transform political as well as social structures, crisis can even act as a trigger to deepen democracy.

If collectively people who care about democracy or sustainability are to convince others that democracy and sustainability are linked and inseparable, and that there’s an urgent need to take action, we’ll need to use all of our creative skills.

Story-telling will have an important role to play in the process. Busani Bafana’s letter from Zimbabwe shows how it can deepen understanding and foster particpation.

So start thinking about the stories that you’d like to tell to get people thinking – and to inspire with the possibility that change might be possible. There’s an urgent need to engage with all your creativity.

Postcard from Zimbabwe: storytelling for democracy and sustainability

By Busani Bafana

“There was once a lazy hare who refused to dig a well with the other animals. When the well was finished the hare tricked all the other animals into falling in the well. After all his fellow animals drowned, the hare had the well all to himself. Until a slow but wise tortoise arrived…”

This is how award-winning poet, writer and singer Albert Nyathi attempts to get Zimbabweans talking about democracy and power.

Pathisa Nyathi historian and culturalist (1)“What is important is allowing people a say,” says historian and culturalist Pathisa Nyathi who claims that Africa needs to draw on its rich tradition of storytelling and other oral art-forms to let Africans debate democracy through the means they know best.

Nyathi gives the example of a poet using what would seem like an innocent analogy to praise the Ndebele King, Lobhengula, “Ingqungqul’ emadolw’ abomvu ngokuquq’engazini zabafowabo.”

“Is he praising the king? No. He is giving a message that the King has killed his brothers,” explains Nyathi. “For us this is democracy. There were times when the leader in Africa was criticised, and yet you have leaders in the West who will say this or that African leader is a despot or a dictator who does not tolerate criticism. That is not true because they do not understand our culture and how we took a swipe at the king in a nice way because you do not want to estrange him.”

The historian argues that the arts, including storytelling, allow people to understand and discuss issues like participation and sustainability.

For award-winning artist Owen Maseko the visual arts can be a medium for storytelling too.

Owen Maseko artist (1)“The storytelling that art does is visual.” says Maseko who also does animations and pottery. “I do not talk to people. I only draw and people respond. Art penetrates through the mind and brings out personal experiences. I draw images and if I feel they do not convey everything I add text.”

Maseko’s work has not endeared him with the authorities. His solo exhibition, Sibathontisele (“let us drip on them” in Ndebele) at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in 2010, landed him in jail on accusations of inciting hatred for President Robert Mugabe. The feared Central Intelligence Organisation swiftly closed the exhibition, which included nearly 30 other works in stone, metal, canvas and wood.

Cont Mhlanga, one of Zimbabwe’s foremost playwrights, is also an avid storyteller. He uses performance theatre to keep audiences in awe, or in stitches. Inspired by his great grandmother’s mastery of storytelling around a traditional fire, Cont says that stage and radio plays and performance theatre allow him to tell the stories he wants to tell about democracy, participation, corruption and injustice.

“My great-grandmother told stories to emphasise that there is nothing permanent,” he says. “She would use the stories of Kalulu the Hare and you see how participation helps. This is why all my plays about democracy are always about people participating. There are think-tanks and strategists but all that is valueless if it does not allow ordinary people to participate.”

Cont’s past plays like Workshop Negative, Dabulap and The Members are about democracy and governance, issues close to the hearts of Zimbabweans. He has also adapted folktales like, Ilitshe Likantunjambila, the rock of Ntunjambila to show the need to protect wetlands. He says folk stories offer solutions to many of the world’s problems such as the need for harmony and respect for the environment. According to him, it is through stories that children and adults learn how to solve problems, make decisions and lead others.

Cont Mhlanga playwright (1)“The link between folklore and reality is missed because we often use the wrong medium to tell stories. For example I am not convinced television captures folklore well for us to link the messages in its stories to reality because some of the issues it glamourises are not understood in Africa”, says Cont. “Packaging and delivery matters in storytelling but unfortunately in Africa our ceremonies and theatres are the least supported to take the messages of democracy, sustainability, leadership to the majority to the people and leaders in the village. We need policies to support traditional ceremonies and theatre. With the policies in place we can attract funding to ensure implementation.”

Cartoonist Tony Namate also sees himself a storyteller in the African tradition.

“I am interested in socio-political issues with an emphasis on the influence of politicians on the people,” he says. “People do not hesitate to give opinions on issues once they are presented in cartoon format.”

The craft of storytelling is respected in Zimbabwe because it allows people to vent. More importantly, a well-known folktale can get Zimbabweans to debate democracy, participation and justice with fluency and power.

Owen Maseko artist

Photo credits: Busani Bafana

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