MULONGA.NET FESTIVAL in SIACHILABA/ZIMBABWE

Across the Waters / Borders / Continents

On 4th/5th September the village of Siachilaba in Zimbabwe´s remote Binga area will become a hub of cultural exchange again: the Tonga community will be celebrating the Official Opening of two new computer centres, Siachilaba ITC & Syanzyundu ITC. At the same time the Switching-On ceremony at Siachilaba Primary School by the Rural Electrification Agency will be heralding the advent of electricity and computers.

The event will be featuring Ngoma Buntibe music groups SIMONGA from Siachilaba, KWAABANA from Pashu and MALIKO from Chief Sinazongwe´s area in Zambia. The first time participation of the latter will be in line with the vision and goal of Tonga.Online. This is to reach out across the waters to the Zambian side of the River Mulonga in order to facilitate digital communication within a long time separated community.

Some Mozambican artists and a KANKOBELA performance will also be part of the program as well as Karl Ritter´s solo performance, representing the linkage with Windhund in Vienna. Other features will be the screening of videos covering Austria - Zimbabwe cultural exchange and a Batonga Museum Exhibition.

Follow the events online: mulonga.net/discussion/

Windhund Karl Ritter back on tour in Zimbabwe

The Tonga.Online project is welcoming Karl Ritter to Zimbabwe for the second time. In 2002 Karl visited Zimbabwe with the group Windhund and we now welcome him as a solo artist on his second visit, to promote Tonga.Online in Harare and to participate in the Mulonga.Net Festival in Siachilaba.

Karl Ritter is a world class jazz guitarist from Austria, highly respected and accomplished in jazz circles. He recorded his first solo album in 1980, has written and recorded music for movies, Austrian and Bavarian radio, and many other projects and sessions. As a solo artist he has collaborated with famous Joe Zawinul recently.

In 2002 Karl Ritter performed in Victoria Falls, Siachilaba, Binga growth point, Bulawayo and at the ABC Summer Jazz Festival in Harare. Since then, Windhund have performed in Vienna with The Virginia Mukwesha Mbira Trio and alongside Zimbabwe´s acclaimed Thomas Mapfumo & The Blacks Unlimited.

Karl Ritter´s performances on 26th /27th August at Mannenberg Jazz Club - with Jabavu and Jazz Invitation respectively - will be a treat for Harare audiences, a lively and spirited performance "interweaving many different styles", journeying through blues, rock, classical and a whole host of others, to emerge with something that is quite uniquely - Ritter.

On 4th /5th September he will be featuring under the baobab tree at Siachilaba Primary School with 150 traditional musicians from Zambia and Zimbabwe, and enjoying a rich and vivid exchange.

KLANGBRÜCKE / SOUNDBRIDGE: SIACHILABA - WWW - LINZ

A digital soundbridge will connect Mulonga.Net festival in remote Siachilaba with the world abroad and with Ars Electronica Festival in Linz: Austrian and African artists will link up via live intercontinental broadcasts on Internet radio. Sound files from Mulonga.Net festival in Binga (Karl Ritter and Ngoma Buntibe) will be uploaded to the Internet, and musical reflections on them by accordionist Otto Lechner at Donaupark in Linz live streamed via Internet.Radio emap.FM

Windhund Otto Lechner and Karl Ritter will be acting as messengers in cyber space to highlight Tonga Ngoma buntibe music and the Tonga.Online project.

Join in / switch on and listen on 5th September, 20:30 MEZ

Live Stream: emap.fm/ch2.ram

Read more: aec/festival/programm

mulonga.net Station @ HMH Gallery Kunstereignisse in Linz

Tonga.Online project will be present at Ars Electronica Festival in Linz not only via Klangbrücke / soundbridge. Having won an Award of Distinction in the new Digital Communities category at this year´s Prix Ars Electronica (see newsletter #38) the project will be presented at the E-lobby at Brucknerhaus and at the digital art exhibition at OK Centrum for contemporary art in Linz also.

The theme of this year´s Ars Electronica Festival from Thu 2 - Tue 7 September is TIMESHIFT - The World in Twenty-Five Years. Read more aec/timeshift

AZFA is going to create a very special set up at HMH Gallery Kunstereignisse, Ottensheimerstrasse 25, Linz-Urfahr;
to provide for a separate space to encounter the projects multiple dimensions and to facilitate interactive communication with the Tonga community in a slow way (as required by the still existing connectivity gap).

Mulonga.Net station is inviting to view + call + listen to the Tonga people as a unique African digital community. Various Austrian artists who have been involved in cultural exchange with the Tonga community in recent years are reflecting their encounters. Some computer work stations are encouraging direct communication via mulonga.net.

• echo/S
  an audio-visual installation by Werner Puntigam & Klaus Hollinetz;
• across the river
  a 155' video documentary 'backstage Siachilaba' by Michael Pilz;
• black coated
  Tonga.Online- video arguments by Thomas Schneider
• mulonga.net
  Tonga.Online- lab/content by Stefan Kuthan

Timetable:

Tonga.Online Smart X Tension

There is a smart computer companion who has proved to be very helpful in expanding the project between and beyond the now existing three IT centres. AlphaSmart is a kind of expanded keyboard run on batteries and sponsored by AlphaSmart Europe Ltd and the WorldLinks programme. The name of the outreach programme smart X tension relates to this device.

We are glad to announce that AlphaSmart Ltd Europe UK has donated some more 25 computer companions for the further development of Information Technology Centers in Binga district / Zimbabwe. This donation was made possible by AlphaSmart Inc, a Los Gatos, California-based provider of technology solutions to schools worldwide. The company´s mission is to develop and market affordable and effective technology solutions for the education market.

Thanks a lot, TWALUMBA !