'Peke' kicks off in Dar

By Carol Anande

Tembo wetu 'Peke' kutoka kwa msanii Paul Nduguru
akizinduliwa rasmi alhamisi 17/03/15 pale Nafasi Artspace

“The case of elephant poaching in Tanzania has touched me deeply, you see as a fine artist my first artwork was of an elephant. I was just seven and managed to sell it and buy me some shoes…” Paul speaks at the soft launch of his exhibition titled ‘Peke’ inside Black Tomato restaurant in Diamond Plaza, DSM.

Peke coming from the Swahili word ‘pekee’ which loosely translates alone, follows Paul’s close introspection of what he could do to alert the public. On the atrocity of elephant poaching currently escalating in Tanzania “…the country is now considered to be the epicenter of Africa’s Ivory trade. Some have calculated that 100.000 elephants have been killed in just the last 3 years and the EIA claims that every third elephant in Africa dies in Tanzania.” (New African Magazine-Jan’15)

Paul Nduguru at the soft launch of his exhibit 'Peke'

Hivyo ili kutuhamasisha watanzania tutambue ujinga wa kutetekeza mali hii asili ambayo, kwa mwendo huu yaweza tokomea nchini. Paul Nduguru kwa wiki hii akisindikizwa na wasanii wengine kama ‘Wahapahapa band’, Baba Watoto (kikundi cha waigizaji), Malfred, Ann-Therese, T-Africa, Street Ngoma n.k.

Alizindua rasmi onyesho hili liitwalo ‘Peke’ linalofwata wiki nzima mpaka jumamosi, uzinduzi ukiwa pale uwanjani mwa Nafasi Artspace mnamo tarehe 17/03/15. Hii ilikuwa na waandishi wa habari jijini DSM. Baadaye siku hiyo hiyo alimalizia uzinduzi wa onyesho hili, ndani ya kaya ya Black Tomato mule ‘Diamond Plaza’ mjini. Hapa palikuwa na maonyesho ya muziki na ushairi toka kwa wasanii mbali mbali.
It’s on this occasion that I was present, already (being a friend) I had the pleasure of seeing the main artwork for this exhibition prior to this official launch. The artwork in question is a gargantuan fibre glass elephant that Paul has been working on since April last year.

Dada Ann-Therese giving us her sultry and sombre
haunting notes at the soft launch of 'Peke' at
Black Tomato in City Centre DSM

Kwa kweli yabidi tumpongoze kaka Paul, kwani amemtengeneza tembo huyu kutoka hela zake mfukoni kwa kutumia malighafi ghali ya ‘fibre glass’. Na tembo huyu ametoka chicha.  Hapa Black Tomato tulipata buridisho tosha toka kwa wasanii waliomsindikiza Paul ikiwemo mimi mwenyewe.

Tulimsikiliza dada ‘Ann-Therese’ toka Ubeligiji yeye alikonga roho zetu na sauti yake yenye uzito wa hisia na televu kwa sikio. Akiwa na gitaa lake dada huyu ana miaka 26 na alifungua dimba pale jukwaani. Jukwaa hili ni dogo na hivyo tukamuona Paul Nduguru amepanda na gitaa lake, kwa upekee kwani hakuwa na bendi yake ‘Wahapahapa'.

Alitufurahisha mimi haswa kwa jinsi alivyokuwa analitega gitaa lake kutoa milio yenye kina na vionjo vya aina yake. Aliweza pia kutusikilizisha wimbo aliotunga kwa onyesho hili uitwao ‘Pekee’. Ni vyema usikose akiumbia wimbo huu na bendi yake ‘Wahapahapa’ ijumaa hii pale ‘Black Tomato’ Oysterbay kama upo jijini DSM.

Paul nduguru (middle at the round table)
with press at the launch of his exhibition
'Peke' at Nafasi Artspace this tuesday

He ended the night with Twaba on percussions to give a lively number for this acoustic session that had the crowd in loud applause. Malfred a.k.a Michael Alfred Mwasote as well surprised those who know him by giving a solo reggae acoustic performance this while playing the guitar. Indeed we all got to singing along ‘moyo wangu ungekuwa na kizibo…’.

Before long I was onstage, I performed this poem below and was very touched that audiences (1 or 2 okay they were three to be exact) came to give me personal applause after I left the stage. I am as well thankful to Twaba, who was just delish on the drums.


Worth Living For

Carol Anande performing in support of
Paul Nduguru's exhibition 'Peke'
at its soft launch in Black Tomato
of Diamond Plaza

Hii nchi yenye rasilimali za Hawa
Ufukwe pakawa, sebleni pa wageni
Wareno, Waindi, Waarabu na Wageni
Wale weupe kama topetope

Licha yangu nyeusi na kahawia rangi sokwe
Nilijisahau nikawaita hadi chumbani
La hasha wakaniibia wangu mwali
Hii nchi ya Adamu leo si shwari

I peruse my passions
On why need I be patriotic?
When my own brethren now see chaotic
As a way of life, ready are we to squander even our wives

Sema, when I look to the calm of my birds
The resilience of my elephants, now fast poachers ink
And the native flora at the coast almost extinct

Najua nchi yangu is worth dying For
Better yet worth living, screaming For
Worth orgasming in with abandon
For I was made here, I was baked here

kaka Malfred akitumbuiza ndani ya kaya ya Black Tomato
pale mjini kati akimsindikza Paul na onyesho
lake la tembo 'Peke'

I am Tanza-Nia


Be sure to go & support this ‘Peke’ exhibition by attending its concert this Friday at Black Tomato with Wahapahapa band.

Pia usikose kuja kwenye matembezi ya tembo wetu ‘Peke’, tarehe 21/03/15 yatakayoanza saa tisa pale IST Upanga. Akitua viwanja vya mnazi mmoja kwa onyesho kali litalo onyesha wasanii kama wale madansa noma wa ‘T-Africa’.