Zim: Musica festival sees power of collaboration

The festival’s concluding concert, which will be headlined by Zimbabwe’s Oliver Mtukudzi and South Africa’s Mi Casa, will take place at the Italian embassy in Chisipite. Other artists on the bill include Roberto Gatto, Lorenzo Petrocca, Zimbo-Ita, Raffaele Casarano, Hope Masike, Prudence Katomeni Mbofana, Victor Kunonga, Evicted and others.

Since its inception, the four-day event has been a platform for cultural exchange between artists in Zimbabwe and other countries. Speaking to Music In Africa, the ambassador of Italy to Zimbabwe, Enrico De Agostini, touched on the importance of the event.

“The whole festival is centred on the interaction between Zimbabwean and international artists, both offstage and onstage,” he said. “Offstage, it takes place at the numerous workshops that are organised at Music Crossroads Zimbabwe and the College of Music, where local musicians have the opportunity to work with visiting artists for free.

“Onstage, previous editions have seen Oliver Mtukudzi jam with various Italian artists, Dudu Manhenga collaborate with Raffaele Casarano and with Enzo Favata, to mention only a few. And then, of course, there is Blessing Chimanga and his Zimbo-Ita band. It's a band composed of Zimbabwean and Italian musicians, which has produced many albums.”

Asked about Italy’s vision and aim in hosting the annual festival, De Agostini said: “Musica's key objective is to promote international understanding through cultural diplomacy. It is about investing in long-term relationships. It creates the basis for a more meaningful, future cooperation on all levels. Understanding between people involves dialogue and music is a universal language."

In 2015, the Italian embassy in Zimbabwe initiated a collaboration that gave birth to the peace song ‘Move On’.

“Move On’ is a song about the peaceful resolution of conflicts, recorded over a period of about a year by outstanding international and Zimbabwean artists,” De Agostini said.

"It's great to see such a huge and significant project originate here in Zimbabwe. The project is designed to raise money for a good cause. But we are still looking for the right project, the inspiration that will make us say, ‘Yes, that's great, we'd love to help that cause and that organisation is the right one’.”

For more information about Musica and other cultural activities, visit the Italian embassy's Facebook page.