Arts Reporter 

THE vibration of the traditional instruments hit with a seismic force that ran straight to the cerebral cortex positively impacting one’s consciousness, thought, emotion, reasoning, language and memory. 

The sounds are intense; it could very well be a bira asking for the rains, some solace or simply inspiration.

The bringers of these sounds, manipulating these traditional instruments — mbira, hosho, nengoma — with a finesse that belies their age, is the mbira group of the moment, Dziva Rembira.

“Every time we play, every time we are on stage, we are celebrating, thanking, comforting, encouraging and inspiring our people, in all their diversity,” said band leader Virimai Nhedega, popularly known by his moniker Vee Mhofu.

Interestingly, the audience is urban and the performers are relatively young fellows. 

For this show, they had to rush from Chiweshe to perform at this high-end club in the capital where most of the patrons are known by their names and totems. 

A patron here, a patron there is partaking in snuff like it’s the most normal thing to do and they will ask why it shouldn’t be the normal thing to do. 

What is striking is how sharp everyone in the joint is — in fashion parlance, everyone is on point, including the performers.

And therein lies the controversy.

We are used to mbira players in animal skins.

As the night grows more suave revellers in designer outfits troop in. 

And everybody asks: What controversy?

This is us, this is who we are and we feel most comfortable and alive serenaded by the sounds of our forefathers and mothers. 

A young man somersaults and do flips like an acrobat, clearly driven by the hard-hitting  sounds.

He is in his own world, oblivious of everything and anyone around him. 

By my side is a beautiful lady, in designer ripped jeans, a funky hairstyle, gently and confidently swaying to the mbira sounds, head bobbing backwards and forwards. 

Obviously gone are the days when it was some white foreigners who were drawn to and appreciated mbira sounds. 

And no longer is it a preserve of old rural folk during biras. 

Apparently every Saturday night young urban folk are dressing up chasing this vibrant mbira group.

A chat with colleagues and several cultural experts revealed that apparently this is now the in thing; young folk, in tune and in touch with their roots, following mbira music.

“There is now a greater appreciation of our culture, our ways, the younger people are increasingly gravitating towards our ways, these things are no longer shrouded in mystery and now there is a deeper understanding of who we are as Africans and all the things that connect us with our ancestors,” said media and international relations expert Gee Mugovera.

“Many young people have now travelled the world and when they are out there, that is when they realise it is critical to know who they are and where they come from. You cannot preach and teach Americans about hip-hop, they will only listen to you when you talk about your music,” said literary critic and book editor Tari Teya. 

And some cultural experts contend that designer clothes and fanciness in mbira is nothing new.

“Our ancestors were not savages and animal skins, as a form of clothing, do not denote who we were. Our ancestors initiated cloth technology. In fact, white savages dressed in animal skins. It was only after these whites destroyed our clothing industry during their wars of conquests and pillage that animal skins were worn by our ancestors,” said Nthungo YaAfrika, a African renaissance proponent.

He said the mbira craze by youths was the most normal thing.

“The spiritual world is connecting with the current younger generation after being disappointed by the older generation which suffers from self-acquired voluntary ignorance syndrome (SAVIS) because of being standard-bred since 1884. Teach them how to read and not to think was a strategy used by our colonisers to subjugate our people. But the younger generation is now discovering the truth and that there is power in our culture,” said Nthungo YaAfrika.

In 1700 BC, according to Cheik Anta Diop, skins were worn by Tambous, white savages, and not ‘black’ people. 

“‘Black’ people, the Nahasi, were already weaving silk and other types of cloth material. The destruction of the Nahasi culture by Tambous is the one that made people wear animal skins. They destroyed the cloth manufacturing factories of the Nahasi. These youngsters in their smartness are actually linking to our ancestors who were not savages but wore the finest of cloth,” he said.

The mbira, Nthungo YaAfrika said, was a powerful instrument mentioned in the Bible, originally the story of the Nahasi. It is an instrument full of power, a network that connects with the yonder world.

“The mbira is in the bible but due to mistranslation by white people, it has been called an instrument of many strings,” he said.

He said there was nothing strange with young people taking a lead in spiritual matters.

“These young people are connected to the antiquity spirit, before the whites were created.

The spiritual world has no age; for instance, Yeshua, Jesus, was leading people twice his age and at the age of 12 had begun to debate with religious leaders of his time.”

In these youngsters, are we witnessing a return to our roots?