Africa

Mwalimu Nyerere Festival Opens to International Audience

‘International spectators will participate in the 8th festival, dedicated to Tanzania’s founding father’

June 14th, 2016
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Dar Es Salaam University: International speakers have been invited to the celebratory annual event promoting Nyerere’s vision of people-centered development, in an attempt to sponsor Tanzania’s cultural heritage.

The Mwalimu Nyerere Professorial Chair in Pan-African studies at the University of Dar Es Salaam will honor three people for their commitments to people-centered development. This will take place during the eighth Mwalimu Nyerere Intellectual Festival, running from June 14th to June 16th.

More precisely, these awards will be granted to three people who have demonstrated a commitment to educating others in self-reliance, self-respect and ethics. This education is viewed as a necessary part of the process of capacity building, strengthening the individual’s role as an owner and participant in their own life.

The event celebrates Mwalimu Nyerere’s great contribution to people-centered development in his vision of “Ujamaa”, or Family Hood in Swahili. It is promoted by Nyerere Foundation, an intellectually and politically independent body founded in 1994, whose mission is the pursuit “of peace and unity in Africa and the world though justice for all”.

The Festival will also host multiple events, such as traditional musical performances, book launches related to Tanzanian history and culture. In addition, there will be numerous cultural debates, among which Nyerere’s vision of female emancipation and the affirmation of Tanzanian cultural identity after its national emancipation will be discussed.

It is expected to attract more than 500 official representatives from across the African continent, US, Sweden and Germany, in an attempt to raise public awareness and to share Tanzanian cultural heritage worldwide. Foreign guests will actively participate in the debate as spectators and as guest lecturers. Peter Haussler, Former Director of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, will be one of the speakers on the debate about women’s rights during Nyerere’s time in government. Dr. Paula Uimonen from Stockholm University will tackle the issue of moral crisis and the spirit of the nation in art, culture and digital media.

References

Cultural Diplomacy News
Giorgio Malvermi, CD News