Saturday 2 July 2016

We set off from the Sanctuary in Lilongwe at 0700, making good time to arrive at Dedza by 0830. We had originally intended to go on to Chongoni Rock Art, a UN World Heritage site, but have just been advised the road is unpassable unless you are in a 4 x 4 - which we are not.  We had to abandon this trip, but were advised to visit the Pottery shop in Dedza.  And here it is:

Enjoying breakfast in the gardens out back

Dedza pottery shop

I was delighted to find immediately pottery copies of the Gule Wamkulu.   I have been reading about these for a while, and they are fascinating.

Nyau and the Gule Wamkulu
Nyau is a secret society of the Chewa, an ethnic group of the Bantu peoples from  Central and Southern Africa. Gule Wamkulu is a ritual dance performed by members of the Nyau brotherhood.

It is performed in the season following the harvest in July but also weddings, funerals, and the installation or the death of a chief. On this occasion, the Nyau dancers wear costumes and masks made of wood and straw, representing a great variety of characters, such as wild animals, spirits of the dead, slave traders as well as more recent figures such as the helicopter. Each of these figures plays a particular, often evil, character representing certain forms of misbehaviour in order to teach moral and social values to the audience. These figures perform dances and artistic movements with extraordinary energy, partly entertaining and partly scaring the audience as representatives of the world of the spirits and the dead. There is evidence that Gule Wamkulu existed during the great Chewa Empire of the 17th century. Despite the efforts of Christian missionaries to ban this practice in Chewa communities, it managed to survive under British colonial rule by adopting some aspects of Christianity.Below are some of the dancers:

Kasiya Maliro

 Kasiya maliro is the ancestral mother of the gule wamkulu, and has two major roles. It accompanies the body of deceased people (especially chiefs) to the graveyard, assisting transition to the world of the ancestors. Kasiya maliro is also instrumental in the initiation of boys. They climb under the structure and re-appear, reborn as men. The shape of Kasiya maliro is informed by that of the womb.

Here is the Kasiya Maliro I purchased this morning: the large on is a male version, the smaller is female.  The coffin is carried on the back of the dancer to the grave.

We really enjoyed this visit, and moved on to our next step about mid day.

We arrived at Cape Macclear mid afternoon and spent the afternoon snoozing in sun beds and enjoying the wonderful views.  An ideal weekend break!  Tomorrow we plan to either snorkel or scuba dive.