ARTISTS who write and sing poetry will have a unique opportunity to vent about everything that bothers them emotionally and makes them lose motivation – so much so that some of them – end up abandoning art, focusing on other fields.
That will happen at a gathering organized to deliberate on the problems that are bothering artists and the general public called Ikweza With Mbali Malimela, which will be held on Sunday, March 15, at Santosa Coffee in Morningside, Durban, from 10 am.
In an exclusive interview withOf this country At the weekendwriter and poet, Mbali Malimela from Dududu, said the idea of this gathering came to him when he posted a clip of his poem titled A breakwhich could enter TikTok – more and more people are complaining about being tired, expressing how much life is bothering them.
“It bothered me in my heart to hear many people crying about being tired, so much so that some of them were saying that they even wished to die so that they could rest in peace. This made me remember that in the arts we are facing the same problem of our colleagues who end up staying on the road because of different situations that hinder their work. I then wished that there would be a forum where we would discuss those situations that make us feel that way in life,” said Mbali.
Continuing, he said that this event aims to help female artists a lot because he believes that they are the ones who face many situations that cause them to be disturbed in their art and he has seen many times that if they are disturbed in some way, it will not be easy to come back with strength and continue with their artistic skills.
“When I applied for funding from the fund that supports artistic activities, the National Arts Council, and seeing that they have played a major role in making this idea continue now, I clearly stated that I intend to greatly help female artists to have the opportunity to express themselves through different situations that bother them in the role.
“However, it will not end there and as I also wish that this idea will continue to be useful for people in society because I know that there are many of us who are facing situations that make it easy for people to throw in the towel in life, I hope that this opportunity will make a difference to prevent the situation of discouragement that we have,” he said.
In this event, Mbali will not be traveling alone, as there will be colleagues in this role including the poet Sindiswa Zulu, Luleka Mhlanzi who also writes and recites poetry, Demima Nokusa Buthelezi who will be performing and advising the audience on ways to free and spread the idea, there will be psychologist Tholinhlanhla Dlamini-Ngcoya, poet Mthuthu Ndebele and singer Mandisa Cebekhulu.
The artist revealed that one of the most important things that will happen at the gathering is that she will officially launch her first book of Zulu poetry titled Break: Don’t You Need a Break? – which also contains a message relevant to what is being discussed.
It said it expects an audience of between 50 and 80 for this event and those who wish to attend can buy Quicket tickets for R300 each and R500 for the book.
Beyond Khefu, Mbali has entered the hearts of many art lovers with his annual poetry and music event called Poetry on The Lawn. Apart from that, he is also known for his poem The uterus and has worked with different artists including Gubhela, Mzukulu, Nkosazana Daughter, Nontokozo Mkhize and Malumz on Decks.