Ghost-Summoning Drums

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Born in 1987. He works as a program department employee at the Ursynów Cultural Center "Alternatywy." Author of the book "The Dom: New York Bohemia on the Polish Lower East Side," which was published in 2018 in the American series by Wydawnictwo Czarne. He has also published articles in magazines such as "Polityka," "Machina," "Wprost," and "Gazeta Magnetofonowa," and as a reporter, he has collaborated with Program II of Polish Radio.

There is a music ritual in Malawi, included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It is said to cure illnesses and chase away demons through dance and drum music. In Poland, there is a small record label producing documentary and experimental records. Piotr Cichocki, an ethnographer and the director of the 1000Hz record label, told Jan Błaszczak more about the Vimbuza ceremony and the work on this unusual album.

You can listen to the Umoya Wa Muthempire (Live In the Temple) album here.

Jan Błaszczak: The Umoyo Wa Muthempire (Live In the Temple) album is a documentation of the Malawian band Tonga Boys’ excursion to a temple where the Vimbuza ceremony is held: a dance during which performers are possessed by the ancestors’ spirits. It’s a ritual and medical practice that UNESCO considers part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. On the other hand, though, local authorities and the Christian Church are critical of it. So let’s start with the basics: what is the status of Vimbuza in Malawi?

Piotr Cichocki: It’s complicated. On the one hand, it was the Malawian authorities who submitted the required documents to the UNESCO committee to register Vimbuza as part of the country’s immaterial heritage. The museum in Mzuzu, the region’s capital, created an exhibition on Vimbuza to celebrate the occasion. Efforts were made to present it as part of the local culture and to encourage its promotion as a tourist attraction. On the other hand, most Malawians view Vimbuza dance as directly connected to their ancestors’ spirits and the fight against witchcraft. To many Africans, witchcraft is simply a social fact.

What do you mean when you say Vimbuza fights witchcraft?

Vimbuza

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Jan Błaszczak:

Born in 1987. He works as a program department employee at the Ursynów Cultural Center "Alternatywy." Author of the book "The Dom: New York Bohemia on the Polish Lower East Side," which was published in 2018 in the American series by Wydawnictwo Czarne. He has also published articles in magazines such as "Polityka," "Machina," "Wprost," and "Gazeta Magnetofonowa," and as a reporter, he has collaborated with Program II of Polish Radio.

Translation: Aga Zano

Publish date: 08.11.2021

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Enis Yucekoralp:

is a freelance writer based in London. He has a diverse range of interests and concerns, but his long reads can be found in “The Independent” while his poetry has appeared in “3AM Magazine”. He holds an M.Phil. in English from the University of Cambridge.

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Sound of Body, Sound of Mind

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