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Visibility for mbira makers and players in rural Mozambique
In October 2022, Tatenda Lenade Cangola and SR initiated a project with the goal of locating mbira makers players and makers in the Mozambican border regions near Zimbabwe, and provide them with media visibility, so that- they can make connections as musicians, and their music gets more widely know
- they sell their instruments both nationally and internationally
- their types of mbira find more students at home and abroad, similar to our mbira dzaVaNdau course.
- we are creating biographic pages in Portuguese and English (example)
- we create virtual versions of their instruments (example) that show key layout and tuning, and serve as the basis for future interactive tutorials
- we commission one instrument from each mbira maker to ensure their quality (this happens outside of the project budget)
- we provide instruments without players to players without instruments (in many families there are orphaned mbiras, or traditional music is given up when entering church. On the other hand, Tatenda keeps meeting older, formerly very active musicians who cannot afford a new instrument)
- we disseminate the contact information offline to strengthen the local network of musicians and artisans
- we spread the information through our social media channels.