It is now close to 20 years since our late friend and composer Keith Goddard took some Austrian musicians on a journey to Siachilaba to encounter the amazing Ngoma Buntibe music of the Tonga people. With his notion of „one man – one note“ Keith referred not only to this „most extraordinary texture of sound“ but also to the impressive resilience of Tonga culture struggling against great odds.

„I could hear no recurring pattern, sense no periodic rhythm and feel no beat despite the constant jogging on the spot by the horn players and singers. Everything happened in great swirls. I was caught inside a traffic jam of hooters and a whirlpool of women dancing and singing with great force. At times, the horn players would break away and move off into the distance, often dragging me or one of the film crew with them. When this happened, the drums would settle down to a modest tapping, keeping the basic pattern going. When the horns returned, their approach was welcomed by an upsurge in energy and the 'cheerful noise' would start up once more.“ (Keith Goddard, in „one man one note“, 1997).

Since then many more Austrian artists have visited the Tonga village of Siachilaba in the remote Zambezi Valley and a huge group of Tonga musicians made it twice to attend festivals and perform in Austria. Tonga.Online and Tonga.OnAir projects made great strides to provide the Tonga communities on both sides of Lake Kariba with communication tools to make their voices better heard. The exhibition at Kunsthaus Deutschvilla is trying to recall and reflect those scores of encounters and achievements in order to inspire and promote its future narrative.

 

Opening: Friday, 12th June 2015, 18 hours

Screening of up-to-date statements from our partners in Zimbabwe and Zambia

Intro / Siachilaba electronics "tonga-return" by Klaus Hollinetz (A)

Musical reflections re/calling Siachilaba by

Isabelle Duthoit (F) & Franz Hautzinger (A)

Dr. Didi (A) - Peter Androsch, Didi Bruckmayr, Bernd Preinfalk

 

Finissage + party: Sunday, 19th July 2015, 18 hours – „till late“

Intro / Simonga-Maliko ParadeLinz09 Remix: by Wolfgang Fadi Dorninger (A)

Otto Lechner & Windhund feat. Toni Burger & Karl Ritter (A)

Werner Puntigam's Mbirations (A/ZW) feat. Hope Masike & Klaus Hollinetz

 

Exhibition with works from: Elisabeth Altenburg, Ilo Battigelli, Sabine Bitter/Helmut Weber, Marcus Diess, Calvin Dondo, Mario Friedwagner, Keith Goddard, Bartholomäus Grill/Pascal Maitre, Klaus Hollinetz, Darius Kowalski, Maliko Budima group, Annie Mpalume, Hanna Piksarv, Michael Pilz, Georg Ritter, Thomas Schneider, Siachilaba Women Photographers, Simonga Ngoma Buntibe group, Time's Up with Tina Auer, Tim Boykett, Andreas Mayrhofer; Werner Puntigam, Dismas Sekibaha, Gotthard Wagner

Curators / concept: Fina Esslinger + Peter Kuthan, Set-up: Austria-Zimbabwe Friendship Association, Ferdinand Goetz (Kunsthaus Deutschvilla)

 

Thanks to all the artists and collaborators involved 1995-2015:

Elisabeth Altenburg, Peter Androsch, Norbert Artner, Ilo Battigelli, Sabine Bitter/Helmut Weber/Jeff Derksen, Candice Breitz, Didi Bruckmayr, Toni Burger, Calvin Dondo, Bert Estl, Wolfgang Fadi Dorninger, Isabelle Duthoit, Joachim Eckl, Sigi Finkel, Keith Goddard, Ferdinand Goetz, Georg Graf, Hauptschule Strobl, Franz Hautzinger, Stephen Hobbs, Klaus Hollinetz, Rainer Jessl, Alfred Komarek, Darius Kowalski, Simon Kürmayr, Anna + Hedi + Stefan Kuthan, Lukas Ligeti, Christoph Lindenmaier, Maliko Budima group with Chief Sinazongwe, Hope Masike, Michael Mastrototaro / Sabine Maier, Annie Mpalume, Patrick Mweemba, Marcus Neustetter, Cornelia Pesendorfer, Rudi Pfann, Hanna Piksarv, Michael Pilz, Gerti Plöchl, Bernd Preinfalk, Werner Puntigam, Oliver Ressler, Georg Ritter, Herbert Schager, Thomas Schneider, Simonga Ngoma Buntibe group with Jossam Munkuli, Time's Up with Tina Auer, Tim Boykett, Andreas Mayrhofer; John Tylo, Gotthard Wagner, Denzil Weale, Wiener Tschuschenkapelle with Slavko Ninic, Metin Meto, Adula Ibn Quadr, Franz Fellner, Christoph Petschina; Johannes Wegerbauer, Windhund with Otto Lechner, Joao de Bruco, Melissa Coleman, Georg Graf, Sigi Finkl, Karl Ritter, Peter Rosmanith, Dismas Sekibaha, Achim Tang, Alex Wladigeroff;

 

thanks to the journalists coming along to Siachilaba 1995-2015:

Robert Bilek, Andreas Felber, Bartholomäus Grill/Pascal Maitre, Regina Patsch, Brigitte Pilz, Mathilde Schwabeneder,

 

thanks for special media collaborations to ORF Ö1, ORFOÖ, Radio FRO / Tonga.OnAir with Ingo Leindecker, Hannelore Leindecker, Sandra Hochholzer, Marcus Diess and Freies Radio Salzkammergut with Mario Friedwagner; Funkfeuer Linz with Pamela Ripota, Andreas Fierlinger, Rainer Ruprechtsberger, Peter Wagenhuber; dorfTV with Georg Ritter, Gabi Kepplinger; Südwind Magazin, Indaba Magazin, Felix Nöbauer,

 

thanks to our partners in Zimbabwe and Zambia 1995-2015: Kunzwana Trust with Keith Goddard, Phillip Marira, Penny Yon; Dominic Muntanga, Pamberi Trust/BookCafe with Paul Brickhill, Ian White; Basilwizi Trust with Frank Mudimba, Pottar Muzamba; Amakhosi with Cont Mhlanga; Gallery Delta with Derek Huggins, Helen Lieros; Zimbabwe College of Music with Agrippa Sora; HIFA Festival with Manuel Bagorro, Maria Wilson; National Gallery of Zimbabwe with Doreen Sibanda, Raphael Chikukwa; Zimbabwe International Bookfare; Dudu Manhenga & Color Blu; WorldLinks with Eliada Gudza; Panos Institute Southern Africa with Lilian Kiefer, Nervious Siantombo; Austrian Honorary Consulate with Dr. Milan Djordjevic,

 

thanks to our partners in Austria 1995-2015: ABC/Auhof Basket Company, Buchhandlung Alex, Aktionsradius Augarten, Extraplatte, Ars Electronica, Glatt&Verkehrt, Galerie Habari, Konzerthaus/Hörgänge, Musikforum Viktring, Offenes Kulturhaus, OÖ Festival der Regionen; Projekt Integrationshaus; Galerie St. Barbara / Osterfestival; Porgy&Bess, Stadtwerkstatt with Gitti Vasicek, Franz Xaver, Sandra Krampelhuber; VIDC/Kulturen in Bewegung; SADOCC, Horizont3000 with Roland Angerer, Hannes Atzinger, Kevin Wakley; Hauptschule Strobl, bifeb St. Wolfgang

 

thanks to our funders and sponsors 1995-2015: Federal Chancellery / Arts section, Ministry for European and International Affairs, Austrian Embassy in Harare and Pretoria, Austrian Development Agency ADA; Kulturland OÖ, Stadt Linz, Stadt Wien, Rotary Club Linz Süd, HMH Rubblemaster, VAIS, Wiener Allianz, OÖ Sparkasse.

Fina Esslinger + Peter Kuthan

Linz, 31st May 2015

read/see more:

www.kunzwana.net

deutschvilla.at/event/12-06-2015-12-07-2015-recalling-siachilaba/

www.timesup.org/ToR

ToR-Blog

visp.machfeld.net/parade_09/

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The picture shows a detail of the huge drawing (2x3m) of a Ngoma Buntibe performance of Simonga-Maliko by the artists Georg Ritter and Hanna Piksarv. This artwork is based on photographs taken at the joint rehearsals of Simonga-Maliko in Binga prior to their journey to Linz / Austria in 2009. It has been shown as part of the current exhibition of Ritter/Piksarv at the Deutschvilla in Strobl near Salzburg. Georg Ritter is a multimedia artist from Linz / Austria and has been involved in cultural exchange with the Tonga since 1995 in close collaboration with the late Keith Goddard. Hanna Piksarv is a young artist in various fields from Tallinn / Estonia.