'I wear my culture' project uplifts local culture

Source: NewsDay Zimbabwe
Author: Daniel Moyo

Bulawayo City Council spokesperson Nesisa Mpofu (second from right), Gilmore Khumalo project leader (extreme right ) and the British Council representative Ronald Moyo (second from left) with other two participants during the 'I wear my culture project"

EXPERTS have given thumbs up to the "I wear my culture" project launched on Tuesday saying it will go a long way in uplifting local culture.

Through the project, 10 tribes with their languages were represented through fashion art pieces which expressed the way of life of each tribe by their different designs and colour compilation.

The project leader Gilmore Khumalo said it was important for the identity of Zimbabweans as a nation and not individual tribes.

"I think for me, the most important thing I discovered when we were moving across the country was that as individual groups within Zimbabwe, all we are crying for is to be seen and heard. So I think we can move forward as a united front, The main aim was to identify culture, to know who we are not only as a tribe but as Zimbabweans," he said.

In an interview with NewsDay Life & Style, Bulawayo City Council spokesperson, Nesisa Mpofu, said Bulawayo was a huge platform for fashion as the garments presented were of international standards.

"Bulawayo is a huge platform internationally in terms of fashion. I always say that when we talk of fashion, we should say London, New York, Paris and Bulawayo because we can make it a big, efficient capital to the world," she said.

Mpofu said the project was vital also as it was a milestone that displayed the talents of the various creatives.

"I think it is a milestone event in the sense of uniting various creatives and most of these creatives that were involved in this project. It shows that we have a lot of talent.

So it is key that we start to incorporate our culture into our fashion to make sure that we export that and follow that into income for the people," she said.

One of the sponsors, the British Council, represented by Ronald Moyo, who is also the arts project co-ordinator, said it would continue supporting the project as it engaged the youth in cultural relations.

"So for us as British Council, we continue to support this project because of how valuable we see it to be in Zimbabwean culture and also how it also aligns with working with the youth in culture and just our cultural relations with Zimbabwe," Moyo said.

"I think that this is a very significant project towards our culture and preservation of some of the art forms of our culture in terms of fashion and also a modern interpretation of how it looks today."