Botswana Culture

Last year I took an introductory course to African history. The class made me familiar with Africa and so this is an exciting topic for me. The place I want to explore is Botswana. I don't remember much about it so I thought it would be fun to dive deep into the music from Botswana. The first thing I typed in was traditional Botswana music. The website, musicinafrica.net, had information on popular genres in Botswana such as dithlaka. The website explained how dithlaka music is played on a copper or aluminum pipe. The twist is that there are multiple people playing the same instrument and playing the same notes in different octaves, but they're holding the notes for varying time lengths. The sound reminds me of the recorder we all played in elementary school.




The next thing I was interested in was female artists from Botswana. An incredibly talented artist I came across was Samantha Mogwe. Her voice is soothing like your mother singing you a lullaby to sleep. My mother didn't do that, but that's how her voice feels to me. The website sheleadsafrica.org says that she is a "multifaceted individual" because she also has a degree in theology. She participates in many singing competitions such as the Gabz Karaoke Idol and African Idols. She also performs in the Exodus Live Poets. 





Finally, I did some research on Botswana's festivals. I learned about the Matisong celebration. It takes place in April and is celebrated in Gaborone. Matisong a celebration of art; it celebrates theater, music, dance, poetry, and comedy. Young artists use it as a "platform to show case their talents and abilities" (Matisong.org). The festival is relatively new; it's an annual festival and it has been around for a about 34 years now. I picked this video because there was so much talent on one stage. There were singers and musicians playing instruments while the dancers told a story. My interpretation of the story was someone's journey through life. I felt like the dancers told the story of being alone in life then finding people who are also going through adversity. They picked each other up and supported one another until it was their time to go.  









For more information:

https://www.musicinafrica.net/magazine/popular-music-botswana

https://sheleadsafrica.org/5-female-artists-making-moves-botswana/

http://www.maitisong.org/festival/

Comments

  1. faith sidesOctober 4, 2020 at 4:55 PM

    I loved your post Alycia! I totally agree how the second video was like a lullaby. My mother never really sung to me either lol but I did not really care that much for that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cameron McGaheeOctober 5, 2020 at 10:26 PM

    I enjoyed your blog, I enjoyed how you picked one specific place to deeply focus on, I can also agree with you and Faith that the second video did sound like a lullaby and my mom didn't sing to me either! It still isn't my cup of tea to be sung to.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Grace MontgomeryOctober 6, 2020 at 8:48 AM

    I loved the genre called dithlaka, it does remind me of kids playing the recorder. I thought it was interesting that the musicians continuously were walking/ moving while they were playing. Samantha Mogwe has such a beautiful voice, I literally got chills while the video was playing.

    ReplyDelete

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