Technical Details:
Date of Issue: 12 July 2013
Format: Five Values in Sheets and in a Miniature Sheet
Stamp Size: 40 mm x 30 mm
Perforations: 13.9 x 13.9
Print Process: Lithography
Design: Macdonald Mbalule
Printed: Oriental Press, Bahrain
Traditional Dances of Malawi:
These dances are performed on various occasions and for different reasons and are based on the beliefs of a particular tribe. For all the many tribes in Malawi, traditional dances are performed for a particular function or ceremony – for example during funerals, initiation ceremonies or harvest time. These are periods of unity, when families or villages come together, feast and resolve their differences. Some traditional dances are performed by everyone, while others are for particular people, based on their meaning and significance to the community.
165 Malawian Kwacha - Vimbuza
Among the Tumbuka tribe from northern Malawi, Vimbuza dance is performed for healing. The healing ritual dates back to the mid-19th century, when it developed as a means of overcoming traumatic experiences of oppression, specifically British occupation - although it was forbidden by Christian missionaries.
Most patients are women who suffer from various forms of mental illness. They are treated for some weeks or months by renowned healers who run a temphiri, a village house where patients are accommodated. After the diagnosis has been made, patients undergo a specific healing ritual. Women and children of the village where the temphiri is located form a circle around the patient, who slowly getting into a trance, and sing particular songs in which helping spirits are called. By becoming possessed by Vimbuza spirits, people who have experienced mental harm could express this in a way that was accepted and understood by the surrounding society.
For the Tumbuka, Vimbuza is both an artistic production and a therapeutic approach. It is regarded as a useful complement in cases where other forms of medical treatment do not prove successful. Its continually expanding repertoire of songs, its complex drumming tradition and the virtuosity of the dancing are all part of the rich cultural heritage of the Tumbuka. Vimbuza is still practiced in rural areas where the Tumbuku live, but faces severe opposition by Christian churches and missionaries - and sometimes doctors propagating modern psychiatric treatment. Environmental degradation is another problem since healers find it more difficult to find the necessary plants used in their traditional medicine in the Vimbuza healing ritual. Many people who are not conscious of the medical benefits of Vimbuza reduce it to a form of entertainment without recognizing its spiritual character and effects.
The dances outlined above are some of the dances that influence the music of Malawi. Many of today’s popular urban artists are following the path of their traditions. A good example is rapper Tay Grin (real name Limbani Kalilani), who adopted his native Gule Wamkulu and fuses it with hip-hop to make his own sound. Local music and traditional dances seem to be going hand in hand, which is helping to preserve the magic and memories that these dances hold.
260 Malawian Kwacha - Uyeni
For many tribes, traditional dances by young members of the community are not only for entertaining the village but are to be performed at various social occasions with different meanings. For example, Uyeni is a Ngoni dance that is performed by girls during the installation of a chief. Young girls perform the dance barefoot with their breasts exposed. The dancers accompany the king to the Bwalo, or the coronation ground. As per traditional beliefs, this cements the notion that women are custodians of culture.
270 Malawian Kwacha - Tchopa
Tchopa is a performing art practised among Lhomwe communities in southern Malawi. The dance is usually performed during celebrations after good harvests and successful hunting trips and during offerings to ancestral spirits after calamities such as droughts and outbreaks of disease. Tchopa entails knowledge of particular dancing skills and singing, and employs three different sizes of drums. Twenty to thirty dancers perform in a circle while criss-crossing each other. Some dancers carry packs on their backs holding farming tools, animal skins, puppets, hunting gear and old kitchen utensils. Each village headman has a small group of Tchopa dancers. Although primarily performed by older Lhomwe men and women, who function as the bearers and practitioners and principal custodians, Tchopa is now also increasingly performed by children. Knowledge and skills for the dance are transmitted during practice sessions and occasional performances. Other key roles among the group include the makers of dancing costumes and drums, drummers, whistlers and dancers. Tchopa dance strengthens social cohesion among Lhomwe communities with members providing mutual support in times of need, such as during ill health and bereavement, and coming to the assistance of overburdened practitioners by providing communal labour in the field.
280 Malawian Kwacha - Masewe
Masewe is a dance from the Yao District of Southern Malawi, particularly Zomba, Mangochi and Machinga. It is performed to showcase the physical strength and skills of young men and boys from the Yao tribe.
Date of Issue: 12 July 2013
Format: Five Values in Sheets and in a Miniature Sheet
Stamp Size: 40 mm x 30 mm
Perforations: 13.9 x 13.9
Print Process: Lithography
Design: Macdonald Mbalule
Printed: Oriental Press, Bahrain
Traditional Dances of Malawi:
These dances are performed on various occasions and for different reasons and are based on the beliefs of a particular tribe. For all the many tribes in Malawi, traditional dances are performed for a particular function or ceremony – for example during funerals, initiation ceremonies or harvest time. These are periods of unity, when families or villages come together, feast and resolve their differences. Some traditional dances are performed by everyone, while others are for particular people, based on their meaning and significance to the community.
165 Malawian Kwacha - Vimbuza
Among the Tumbuka tribe from northern Malawi, Vimbuza dance is performed for healing. The healing ritual dates back to the mid-19th century, when it developed as a means of overcoming traumatic experiences of oppression, specifically British occupation - although it was forbidden by Christian missionaries.
Most patients are women who suffer from various forms of mental illness. They are treated for some weeks or months by renowned healers who run a temphiri, a village house where patients are accommodated. After the diagnosis has been made, patients undergo a specific healing ritual. Women and children of the village where the temphiri is located form a circle around the patient, who slowly getting into a trance, and sing particular songs in which helping spirits are called. By becoming possessed by Vimbuza spirits, people who have experienced mental harm could express this in a way that was accepted and understood by the surrounding society.
For the Tumbuka, Vimbuza is both an artistic production and a therapeutic approach. It is regarded as a useful complement in cases where other forms of medical treatment do not prove successful. Its continually expanding repertoire of songs, its complex drumming tradition and the virtuosity of the dancing are all part of the rich cultural heritage of the Tumbuka. Vimbuza is still practiced in rural areas where the Tumbuku live, but faces severe opposition by Christian churches and missionaries - and sometimes doctors propagating modern psychiatric treatment. Environmental degradation is another problem since healers find it more difficult to find the necessary plants used in their traditional medicine in the Vimbuza healing ritual. Many people who are not conscious of the medical benefits of Vimbuza reduce it to a form of entertainment without recognizing its spiritual character and effects.
The dances outlined above are some of the dances that influence the music of Malawi. Many of today’s popular urban artists are following the path of their traditions. A good example is rapper Tay Grin (real name Limbani Kalilani), who adopted his native Gule Wamkulu and fuses it with hip-hop to make his own sound. Local music and traditional dances seem to be going hand in hand, which is helping to preserve the magic and memories that these dances hold.
260 Malawian Kwacha - Uyeni
For many tribes, traditional dances by young members of the community are not only for entertaining the village but are to be performed at various social occasions with different meanings. For example, Uyeni is a Ngoni dance that is performed by girls during the installation of a chief. Young girls perform the dance barefoot with their breasts exposed. The dancers accompany the king to the Bwalo, or the coronation ground. As per traditional beliefs, this cements the notion that women are custodians of culture.
270 Malawian Kwacha - Tchopa
Tchopa is a performing art practised among Lhomwe communities in southern Malawi. The dance is usually performed during celebrations after good harvests and successful hunting trips and during offerings to ancestral spirits after calamities such as droughts and outbreaks of disease. Tchopa entails knowledge of particular dancing skills and singing, and employs three different sizes of drums. Twenty to thirty dancers perform in a circle while criss-crossing each other. Some dancers carry packs on their backs holding farming tools, animal skins, puppets, hunting gear and old kitchen utensils. Each village headman has a small group of Tchopa dancers. Although primarily performed by older Lhomwe men and women, who function as the bearers and practitioners and principal custodians, Tchopa is now also increasingly performed by children. Knowledge and skills for the dance are transmitted during practice sessions and occasional performances. Other key roles among the group include the makers of dancing costumes and drums, drummers, whistlers and dancers. Tchopa dance strengthens social cohesion among Lhomwe communities with members providing mutual support in times of need, such as during ill health and bereavement, and coming to the assistance of overburdened practitioners by providing communal labour in the field.
280 Malawian Kwacha - Masewe
Masewe is a dance from the Yao District of Southern Malawi, particularly Zomba, Mangochi and Machinga. It is performed to showcase the physical strength and skills of young men and boys from the Yao tribe.
The Masewe is a dance performed by younger men during the time of unyago (initiation).
290 Malawian Kwacha - Gute wa Mkulu
Among the Chewa tribe, Gule Wamkulu (translated as the “Great Dance”) inherited from the tribe's past is performed in a circumstance. The Chewa believe that life exists not only with the living but also within their ancestors and those not yet born. The secret society of initiated Chewa, known as the Nyau, believe in communicating with the dead, or their spirits, calling this act pemphero lalikulu("Great Prayer"). The masks worn by the dancers on such performances are in the form of animals such as antelopes, believed to capture the spirit of the deceased that brings renewed life. The purpose of the dance is said to be a way of communicating messages of the ancestors to the villagers and making possible continued harvests and continued life.
Although it is also performed during initiation ceremonies, funerals, initiations and the installation of a new chief, during each harvest season, a chief or mwini mzinda - a guardian of the dance - calls for the dance to start. Some seasons start following the farming calendar and vise versa. This is due other aspects that are put into consideration which include weather, and the education calendar. But for some parts it lasts for a shorter period. During this period, the village reproduces the symbolic elements of the older cultural way of life.
Every Chewa boy is required to undergo initiation and thereafter considers himself a member of the Gule Wamkulu society. Amongst the Chewa, Gule Wamkulu is also considered their religion as it almost involved in almost each and every way of their life. Since 2005, Gule Wamkulu has been classified as one of the 90 Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, a programme by UNESCO for the preservation of intangible cultural heritage.
290 Malawian Kwacha - Gute wa Mkulu
Among the Chewa tribe, Gule Wamkulu (translated as the “Great Dance”) inherited from the tribe's past is performed in a circumstance. The Chewa believe that life exists not only with the living but also within their ancestors and those not yet born. The secret society of initiated Chewa, known as the Nyau, believe in communicating with the dead, or their spirits, calling this act pemphero lalikulu("Great Prayer"). The masks worn by the dancers on such performances are in the form of animals such as antelopes, believed to capture the spirit of the deceased that brings renewed life. The purpose of the dance is said to be a way of communicating messages of the ancestors to the villagers and making possible continued harvests and continued life.
Although it is also performed during initiation ceremonies, funerals, initiations and the installation of a new chief, during each harvest season, a chief or mwini mzinda - a guardian of the dance - calls for the dance to start. Some seasons start following the farming calendar and vise versa. This is due other aspects that are put into consideration which include weather, and the education calendar. But for some parts it lasts for a shorter period. During this period, the village reproduces the symbolic elements of the older cultural way of life.
Every Chewa boy is required to undergo initiation and thereafter considers himself a member of the Gule Wamkulu society. Amongst the Chewa, Gule Wamkulu is also considered their religion as it almost involved in almost each and every way of their life. Since 2005, Gule Wamkulu has been classified as one of the 90 Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, a programme by UNESCO for the preservation of intangible cultural heritage.
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