Celebrating life’s moments

  Last week we simply couldn’t fit everything in. We weren’t invited to the Prime Minister’s wedding – though I understand it ended up a very happy and joyful occasion. My niece was puzzled by the uproar surrounding this event and finding it hard to get a handle by reading the local press. I couldn’t do much better explanation wise! We didn’t make it to Tuku’s 60th birthday gig either although another 10?000 revellers had a good time celebrating.
But between an engagement party at Blue@2, Shoko Opening Night at Gallery Delta, Poetry Slam at the Book Café, visits to the National Gallery and the Botanic Gardens and an afternoon climb up Ngomokurira – the week was more than busy.
Highlight was the Shoko Spoken Word festival – taking over the town and really making some noise. The Festival opened Tuesday at the Gallery Delta launching Shout – a photography exhibition celebrating artists and the spoken word. An innovative twist was having the invited speakers read poems. Elvas Mari of National Arts Council read Black Man Stay Focussed and read on behalf of the EU Ambassador was a good rendition of Batisirai Chigamba’s poem  “If I were Blind . . . My world would be/a vast expanse of voice, sound textures/Rhythms of the human heart/Each breath acoustics to the song/Of life”
It was left to poet and organiser Cde Fatso to make the speech – a good kickoff to the Shoko week.
Latilla wines were showcasing their products and snacks, provided by the Gallery, included meatballs and chicken wings though I missed the Gallery’s signature Greek dips.  Perhaps they were lost in the crowd
This year Alliance Francaise was the prime Shoko hub with Wednesday night seeing a full house in the open air for the stand up comedy night. Thursday was buzzing at the New Book Café on 139 Samora Machel for the poetry slam. With a new woodfired pizza oven the pizzas are close to the best in town – with crispy base and juicy cheese toppings ranging from US$9 for a Margarita to around US$12 for more variations. Currently a special gets you a free pizza for every two you buy – a nice incentive for large parties.
Participating poets came from across the region – Botswana, SA, Malawi, Kenya as well as home grown stars – and the Poetry Slam was an intensely vibey evening with real excitement around the competition. The Book Café was packed, the audience were intensely silent while poems were performed and intensely noisy in between. Huge fun.
Blue@2 on Aberdeen Road is a laid back venue, at least in the early evening. A nice bar tailored specifically for private events it features a combination of lounging sofa spaces, tables and chairs and an outside sitting area. Boasting a good selection of wines and spirits, simple meals and snack platters it is a good hang out for a party.
We finished our week in the Eastern Highlands where everything is burnt or burning and the landscape is like the surface of the moon. Our niece was impressed with our improvisation skills as the holiday house had run out of cooking gas. We were undeterred and made do with an open fire even baking fresh bread in an iron pot buried in the ground.
She tells us that when the apocalypse comes this is where she is headed as we already seem to know how to cope!
– g.jeke@yahoo.com