Enjoy the rhythms, sights and sounds of Mexico and Zimbabwe in downtown Eugene. Kwaziwai will present Zimabwean marimba and Raices will present regional Mexican dances. We are excited to collaborate with a sister cultural arts program that includes the marimba in its sound.
Sponsored by City of Eugene Cultural Services Downtown Program Fund
A group from Kutsinhira recently visited a soon-to-close exhibit at the Lane County Historical Museum called Racing for Change. We all learned a lot, some of it quite eye-opening, about Eugene and Oregon’s history with the much ostracized Black community and about Blacks who remained in spite of the overt racism in the area. We would highly recommend a visit to this fascinating exhibit before it closes on April 1.
Racing to Change tells the story of Black experiences in Oregon highlighting those right here in Lane County. The original exhibit was created by the Oregon Black Pioneers with added content by the Museum of Natural and Cultural History. New content added by the Lane County History Museum includes historic photographs and videos, oral history, and an interactive poetry wall.
More information can be found on the Lane County Historical Museum website.
We are so pleased to have our teacher and friend Musekiwa Chingodza back after a three year hiatus as this year’s artist-in-residence. After much delay in securing his visa, he arrived in the U.S. just in time for our mbira student’s favorite gathering Camp paGungwa, held on the Oregon coast over the Labor Day weekend. We were blessed by stunning weather and several new mbira pieces from Musekiwa. Musekiwa is now travelling in the U.S. working with other communities, universities and long-time students. He’ll return to Eugene in November.
Kutsinhira’s performing ensembles enjoyed a busy spring and summer season. Chapwititi members returned to play after a year away at college for some of the group, and Kwaziwai enjoyed playing at Zimfest, the annual festival returning to in-person in Mt. Vernon, Washington last June. Jenaguru will round out the gigging season with a performance in Kesey Square Friday, October 7, 5:00 – 6:30. It will be a nice fall evening of music in conjunction with Eugene’s monthly First Friday Art Walk.
Classes are in full swing at the center. A beginners marimba class will start-up on Wednesdays 7:30-9:00. If interested in joining this class or perhaps a more advanced class, please contact Kutsinhira’s education facilitator Kay Burdick at kay@kutsinhira.org.
Annual Membership is renewable again here. We appreciate the support of our non-student members which allows us to keep our class tuition fees low, to continue to sponsor visits by master musicians like Musekiwa and to give back to our Zimbabwean teachers, friends and their communities through the Zimbabwean Community Development Program.
We are thankful for all that we receive from the gifts of Zimbabwean music and its people.
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Title: ZCC Defe Dopota
Artist: Shelton Shavi
Size: approx 12.5″w x 12.5″h
Zimbabwe Weya Art hand painted wooden tray, folk art
Cost: $60 – includes free shipping in the continental U.S.
The piece includes the hand written story by the artist and her bio on the back.
The Story:
One of the common church groups in Zimbabwe which is called Zion Christian Church (ZCC). Defe Dopota is performing.
1. They are at their leader’s place. Women are dancing same style. They are dressed smartly. Men are responding by stylish dancing as well.
2. Some are adding music with pianos, drums and Hosho.
Artist Bio:
Shelton was born in Epworth, outside of Harare, in 1982, one of seven children. He went through the equivalent of 9th grade, stopping because the family had no money to pay school fees. He came to Weya in 2000 because life was difficult in the city. He stays with his aunt and helps her with agriculture, but it is not fulfilling work and provides him with no money. He began to study painting with his half-sister, artist Alletah Chehore, in 2002. “Art was my best subject when I was in school and I want to make some money.”
Title: Village Life
Artist: Absolute Majongah
Size: approx 12.5″w x 12.5″h
Zimbabwe Weya Art hand painted wooden tray, folk art
Cost: $60 – includes free shipping in the continental U.S.
The piece includes the hand written story by the artist and her bio on the back.
The Story:
Rudo, Chido and Sekai are carrying firewood. Tendai and Rutaro are carrying buckets of water. The boys are playing soccer. Mr. Muta is sitting whilst Mrs. Muta is grinding some peanut butter. Serena is pounding. Chipo is winnowing and Mrs. Futema and Mrs. Mata are carrying buckets of water.
Artist Bio:
Absolute was born in 1977 in Chihota, the first born of four daughters. She finished the equivalent of 10th grade and then did a dressmaking cutting and design course. She did sewing work for 5 years. She was married in 2004 but divorced. Absolute began to do art in 2006, to have enough money to support her children and her deceased sister’s children. Absolute passed away in October 2015 of a heart condition.
Title: Picking Wild Fruits
Artist: Milcah Mashon-Ganyika
Size: approx 12.5″w x 12.5″h
Zimbabwe Weya Art hand painted wooden tray, folk art
Cost: $60 – includes free shipping in the continental U.S.
The piece includes the hand written story by the artist and her bio on the back.
The Story:
People are busy picking wild fruits. Others are picking wild fruits to eat at their homes. Mother is carrying firewood. Mrs Choto is carrying dish full of wild fruit.
Artist Bio:
Born in 1966, Milcah was raised in a family of 6 children. She was married in 1982 and has 5 children. Her husband died in 1994, at the age of 32. She became the sole supporter of her children, sent them all through school, and is now a proud grandmother living in her own home she built herself.
Milcah learned to paint at the Weya Community Training Center in 1988. She moved to Harare in February 1998, to paint on hand-thrown pottery at Ros Byrne Pottery. She says she moved to the city because every week there was money,” thus enabling her to “give my children a better life.”
Title: Chakadini Water Pump
Artist: Shelton Shavi
Size: approx 12.5″w x 12.5″h
Zimbabwe Weya Art hand painted wooden tray, folk art
Cost: $60 – includes free shipping in the continental U.S.
The piece includes the hand written story by the artist and his bio on the back.
The Story:
A group of boys and girls gathered together at Chakadiui water pump washing their clothes at the water pump. Chipo and Tara are pumping water from the water pump while Rugare is coming carrying a dish to the water pump to wash clothes. Tambudzai is going back home carrying a clay pot of water on her head.
Chamumorwa is pushing a wheelbarrow with dirty clothes to be washed. Two girls are washing their clothes. Sekai and Samy are putting the clothes in dish to take them back home. Tara is pushing a wheelbarrow carrying buckets of water.
Artist Bio:
Shelton was born in Epworth, outside of Harare, in 1982, one of seven children. He went through the equivalent of 9th grade, stopping because the family had no money to pay school fees. He came to Weya in 2000 because life was difficult in the city. He stays with his aunt and helps her with agriculture, but it is not fulfilling work and provides him with no money. He began to study painting with his half-sister, artist Alletah Chehore, in 2002. “Art was my best subject when I was in school and I want to make some money.”
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Title: Togetherness
Artist: Judith Karuwa
Size: approx 11″w x 24″h
Hand appliqué and embroidered folk art. This piece has a 3 dimensional texture.
$60 – includes FREE shipping in the continental U.S.
Title: Living in Harmony
Artist: Francisca Nyazongwe Chekacheke
Size: approx. 20″w x 15″h
Hand embroidered folk art
$60
Francisca was born in 1965 in Weya. She went to school through Grade 6, leaving school because the family didn’t have enough money for her to continue. She learned embroidery in 1988, because she wanted to earn a living.
She has five children, and her husband works in a hotel in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, coming home once a month. Francisca raises maize, groundnuts and millet on the land the she farms.
Title: Community
Artist: Veronica Chitsike
Size: approx 19″w x 26″h
Hand-painted sadza painting
$40.00
Veronica was born in 1959. She came to Weya in 1982 as the second wife of her husband. She has three children. Her daughter, Rita Shonge is also a painter. Veronica learned to do art in 1988. She felt it was a thing she could do as a woman to earn money. “I am a full-time housewife who looks after children, fetches firewood, does plowing, heard cattle and takes them to the dipping tank. I have quite a lot of work.”
She has time for her artwork during the rainy season only on weekends, with more time available during the dry season. Her favorite topics are wild animals and village life, and she is most recognized by her striking abstract paintings of storks.
We at Kutsinhira Cultural Arts Center continue to mourn the passing of the great mbira player Sekuru Cosmas Magaya, our long-time teacher and friend, who died on July 10, 2020, after contracting COVID-19. An international Zoom memorial was held on October 10. Many family members, including his grand children, close friends, hosts, and mbira students spoke and played the mbira in his honor. For those unable to attend, we have made available a link to the recorded memorial. We hope you’ll be inspired to remember Sekuru Magaya’s legacy and to uphold his way of teaching, learning and living.
Dear students, parents, ensemble members, staff, and community members,
It is with disappointment that I’m announcing the closure of Kutsinhira’s onsite programming as of September 28. No classes or ensemble gatherings may take place indoors or outdoors at the center until further notice.
With a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Lane County, local conditions don’t meet Kutsinhira’s criteria for remaining open. Therefore, the board voted yesterday, at a regularly scheduled board meeting, to close onsite programming.
Even though we hope this closure is temporary, the decision was still an emotional one. Being able to safely gather and make music with others has been a salve for many of us these last two months. However, the board remains committed to following thoughtful standards, guided by scientific principles, research, and best practices, both to ensure Kutsinhira is doing its part for the public health of our community and to ensure our members feel comfortable gathering when we are open.
Kutsinhira adopted a set of criteria in June to guide decisions such as these. You can review these criteria, with explanations and references in this PDF. We have been monitoring these criteria daily and will continue to do so.
Going forward, Kutsinhira’s status (open or closed) will be posted in a banner at the top of our website at kutsinhira.org. In addition, teachers, staff, and ensemble contacts will be notified on a weekly basis about whether the center will be open to in-person programming the following week. The determination of whether to reopen or remain closed will be automatic, based on whether our criteria are met at a weekly checkpoint.
We will also continue looking at options for indoor teaching at the Village School this fall, as well as remote teaching methods to replace outdoor instruction. We’ll share more information after we’ve explored those options further.
As I said back in March, at the onset of the pandemic, the music will go on and we will play together again. We must first wade through these tides together. Lane County’s COVID-19 alert level is currently High, so they’re recommending we all “take measures to limit most contact and modify everyday activities to reduce personal exposure.” Please take care of yourselves and stay well!
Gary Spalter
Executive Director
We, the board and staff of Kutsinhira Cultural Arts Center, want to clearly and publicly express our support for the Black Lives Matter movement. We hope you will stand with us in solidarity as partners in this fight for racial justice.
Throughout the history of the United States, Black people have been subjected to systems of brutality and oppression. Each of us — but particularly those of us who have the privilege that comes with white skin — must act to end these injustices. We call for accountability in law enforcement and an end to the systemic persecution of Black people, in our local community and beyond.
Kutsinhira’s mission depends fundamentally on strong, healthy relationships with Black Zimbabweans who generously share their music and culture with us. We strive to honor those relationships, and vow to continue reflecting deeply on the significance of that cross-cultural exchange and on our responsibilities as a predominantly white organization in the United States.
Whether we are conscious of racism in ourselves or not, we must recognize that it exists throughout our society — in Oregon, in Eugene, and within Kutsinhira. We must ask ourselves, as an organization and as individuals, how we may unintentionally uphold systems of oppression against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). We must root out any biases that undermine our efforts to create an inclusive community among students, teachers, performers, audience members, friends, family, and the broader community.
Toward that end, we pledge to become more deeply informed about racial and cultural issues. Kutsinhira’s board and staff will determine ways to facilitate frank explorations of topics such as the colonial history of Zimbabwe, current economic disparities between our Black teachers and our membership, oppression in both Zimbabwe and the U.S., cultural appropriation, and racial and cultural diversity within Kutsinhira.
Though we recognize the challenge of dismantling systems built on oppression, we are heartened by the heightened possibility for transformative change in this moment. We hope you will join us in being part of that change by engaging in conversation and learning.
Sincerely,
Kutsinhira board of directors:
Nancy Novitski, President
Dennis Urso, Treasurer
Marilyn Mangus, Secretary
Marilyn Kolodziejczyk, Zimbabwe Liaison
Chris Donahue
Erin Ely
Andrea Olson
Betsy Priddle
Lynne Swift
Kutsinhira staff:
Gary Spalter, Executive Director and Teacher
Sue Dickman, Education Director
Karen Howe, Facilities Manager
Maggie Donahue, Founder and Teacher
Ratie Dangarembwa Morgan, Teacher
Caleb Donahue, Teacher
Wanda Walker, Teacher
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