Nhaka Gallery in Harare recently hosted an all women evening concert featuring musicians Prudence Katomeni Mbofana, Mary Anibal, and spoken word artist Batsirai Chigama.
The occasion was the inaugural Nyimbo Zakwatu concert.
“There hasn't been a platform that celebrates the diverse forms of Zimbabwean music or showcases our unique perspectives on genres like hip-hop, RnB, and mbira music,” organiser, Mary Anibal told Standard Style.
“It welcomes diverse genres, sharing the same space without restriction. Anyone can come and sing about their own music and reflect on their different cultures and backgrounds from across Africa.”
While the event was a celebration of the brilliance of women in arts, Anibal said the idea was to make it a quarterly showcase.
“We are already planning a second edition, pending funding,'” she said, adding that the event was not specifically for women only.
“It’s going to incorporate everyone, it only happened that the first edition took place during international women’s month, and we wanted to elevate women voices by rallying behind the theme ‘All women arise, equality and empowerment’.”
Besides an all women line up the event saw women entrepreneurs and small businesses exhibiting their products within the space.
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The event drew a diverse crowd of music lovers, including members of the diplomatic community, industry stakeholders, and parents who brought their children, making it an all-inclusive show.
Prudence mesmerised the house with her jazzy voice and had the crowd singing along to some of her most popular hits that rocked airwaves.
Chigama gripped the audience with her accurate and unflinching portrayal of grief and tragedy.
Through her poetry, she celebrates the resilience and strength of mothers, who care for their children amidst the complexities of fatherhood – whether absent or present, often marked by patriarchal violence.
A haunting line from one of her poems resonates deeply: “Silence was taught to our mothers, and we rejected it at birth”.
Anibal, adorned in her signature Tanavoho/Randra-Madinika traditional hairstyle from Madagascar and accompanied by her five-piece band, closed off the show with an impressive performance.
During her set, the Gogoride hitmaker paid tribute to mbira music legend Chiwoniso Maraire, whom she points to as a profound inspiration behind her music.
Anibal is a vocal acrobat with a very close sense of humor on and off the stage, yet a fierce performer who easily switches from charming the audience to transporting them into a trance with her 18-key Nyunganyunga mbira instrument and powerful vocal projections.
She makes hitting both high and low notes seem effortless, as breathing in and out or sipping water.
A very skillful singer with a background as a music educator, her vocal category could be classified as somewhat of a coloratura soprano, because of her ability to switch from soft and delicate to loud and dramatic notes. Despite her youth, she has proven herself to be a master craftswoman.
The artist supports events that showcase and celebrate fellow artists while also actively curating shows that highlight her own artistry such as the Mary Anibal Intimate Concert (Volume 1 and 2, 2023), and Kwandinobva Live Sessions (2024). Notably, her Nyimbo Zakwatu platform aims to elevate marginalised voices, providing a vital stage for underrepresented artists.
“It took me a lot of time, but with the help of Tichaona Muchemwa, we came up with a name that resonates with our African culture,” she said.
“Nyimbo Zakwatu, which means ‘our songs’, emanates from the Sena and Nyanja or Chewa cultures - my roots are from the Sena people.”
