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Shoko Festival has partnered with the Netherlands Embassy to present a cutting edge spoken word programme for its 2021 edition. This year’s festival running under the theme ‘‘Shoko Universe’ is set to present a unique Holland – Zimbabwe collaboration for its spoken word programme as well as an innovative poetry journey. Lost – A Spoken Word Journey is set to be streamed on Tuesday 21st September on the Shoko Festival Facebook and YouTube pages.
In a never-seen-before creative collaboration between leading Dutch spoken word artist, Smita James and top Zimbabwean poet Shaldo, the two artists will collaborate on combined themes that will be performed virtually at Shoko Festival 2021. Smita James AKA SJ Poet describes herself as “a rhythmic reasoner” and her words have graced the stages of RE: Definition, Amsterdam Fringe Festival, Cinnamon Wednesday, the Black Magic Woman Festival, Ispeak and beyond.
Shaldo is a multi-talented storyteller and one of the most prominent Zimbabwean spoken word artists on the scene today. In their performance, Smita James and Shaldo will explore a pandemic-riddled world of violence against women, climate breakdown and rising authoritarianism as they also speak of hope and of social justice.
The performance will lead to a presentation of Lost – A Spoken Word Journey which will feature several leading Zimbabwean poets who will take the audience on a voyage with words and poetry. Lost will feature some of the country’s foremost wordsmiths such as Kuda Rice, Banshee Thando, Yanta Limie and Munyaradzi Bopoto. The Netherlands Embassy is the main sponsor of the Shoko Spoken Word Programme.
“We are thrilled to be sponsoring the Spoken Word Programme at Shoko Festival 2021 that will include so much Zimbabwean talent and also renowned Dutch poet Smita James,” said the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Zimbabwe, Her Excellency Margret Verwijk, “The world is facing multiple crises – a pandemic, climate change, and social inequality. These are problems that affect us all and require collective action to resolve. The role of art, such as the upcoming spoken word collaboration between Zimbabwe’s Shaldo and Smita James is to bring us together and to give us fresh perspectives and jolt us into new ways of thinking and acting. Wherever you are in the world, tune in for what will be a powerful and innovative Zimbabwe-Netherlands collaboration.”
“We’re so happy to be partnering with the Embassy of the Netherlands to present both a cutting-edge spoken word programme and an event that carries such an urgent message,” says Shoko Festival Director Samm Farai Monro AKA Comrade Fatso. “The artistic collaboration will be something very unique while the message we are putting out is such an important one given the times we live in.”
Lost – A Spoken Word Journey will be streamed on Tuesday 21st September and is made possible by the generous support of the Embassy of the Netherlands.
About Shoko Festival
Shoko Festival is Zimbabwe’s most popular and longest-running urban culture festival. Shoko is all about promoting urban culture, free expression and positive activism. Over the years the festival has provided a platform for hundreds of young Zimbabwean rappers, comedians, musicians and spoken word artists to perform, collaborate and express themselves. Shoko also curates cutting edge collaborations between local and international acts and builds international tours for young Zimbabwean artists. The festival also hosts free conferences, workshops and panels on digital media, tech & the arts. Shoko Festival is a production of Magamba Network.
More details on www.shokofestival.co.zw
Email info@shokofestival.co.zw
