Musicians Union of Malawi (Mum) Southern Chapter will Saturday celebrate the World Music Day which falls on June 21 every year.
With the day falling on a working day this year musicians in the Central and Northern Chapters held their celebrations last Saturday but the Southern chapter shifted their celebration to tomorrow.
“We could have held our celebrations together with our colleagues in the north and central but we had a challenge which was beyond our control so we decided to shift it to July 2 which is on Saturday. Everything is now in order,” said Mum South chairperson Papa Mtume.
While in Lilongwe, Minister of Sports and Culture, Grace Chiumia, was the guest of honour Mtume said they have engaged government officials and the Mayor of the City of Blantyre to be part of the celebration.
Mtume said there will be lots of activities during the celebration which starts with a big walk from Old Town in Blantyre to Kanjedza ground.
“We are celebrating the World Music Day and as artists we have joined the rest of the country in condemning the albino killings. So we will carry placards voicing out our concerns against the abductions and killings of albinos. We are all human beings created in the image of God and so this is key as we celebrate the World Music Day,” he said.
Mtume also said as musicians they will also take the celebrations to speak out on the challenges the creative industry is facing.
“There are lots of challenges we are facing as artists and we have tried to engage the government. Artists are failing to get something from their talent.
Piracy is rampant which needs to be minimised, artists have no proper place for selling their products but all this can work with the Arts Council which we are crying for,” he said.
The government said recently that they are working hard to have the National Arts and Heritage Council on the ground and that they would want its bill to be submitted to cabinet by December and then tabled in Parliament next year.
Mtume then called on artists to patronise the event.
He also called upon his fellow musicians to respect their talents.
“Let’s respect our talents and use them for a good cause. Let’s not use our talent in castigating others but let’s strive to use music in bringing about change, peace and love among others,” said the Mum South leader.
He also appealed to musicians to be disciplined and creative in their work.
Mum has in the past years not been celebrating the World Music Day but its president Reverend Chimwemwe Mhango said starting this year, they will be celebrating the day with pomp.
According to available information, the Fête de la Musique, also known as Make Music Day or World Music Day, is an annual music celebration on June 21.
The concept of an all-day musical celebration on the days of the solstice was originated by the French Minister of Culture, Jack Lang. The festival later became celebrated in 120 countries around the world.
The Fête de la Musique’s purpose is to promote music in two ways where among others amateur and professional musicians are encouraged to perform in the streets, under the slogan “Faites de la musique” (“make music”, a homophone of Fête de la Musique).
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