Kukambula Workshops
By Theo Pascal & Carmen Souza
We are thrilled to have the opportunity to introduce
Kukambula – Lusophone Gathering workshops and lecture series.
The aim of these workshops/lectures is to actively bring awareness to the Lusophone culture, exposing the audience/students and practitioners to the diverse way of life, music production, rhythms and history.
We strongly believe that this project can be a great addition to your curriculum and a way to present a rich culture and involve people and develop new movements and intercultural relations, promoting interchange and collaborations.
After careful practice research, we have come to the realization that there is a lack of information of the Lusophone studies, and we would like to help bridge that gap within the African studies. Our aims are to introduce/enhance the knowledge of the Lusophony’s:
- History and post-colonialism, capitalism, social and cultural impact
- Multiculturalism, Globalisation, Traditionalism and Modernism
- Explore the Music Identity, Music training, and Self-taught aspects
- Music Production, Performance and Collaboration
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Theo Pascal and Carmen Souza
'Kukambula Lusophone Gathering' Documentary
was directed, produced and recorded by Theo Pascal for his
Master's thesis about understanding Lusophone music and culture.
'Kukambula means ‘catching something in movement’ in the Angolan dialect Kimbundu.
The idea for this project came from the necessity to discover a deeper understanding of Lusophone music and culture nowadays. An attempt to measure the impact of politics, ideologies, neoliberalism and capitalism in Lusophone music.
In this musical project and practice research there were several things stirred, provoked and set in motion, these included, the new movement and rediscovery of Lusophone Music, the affirmation of Lusophone musical identities, the occasion of unexpected encounters between old and new generations, the collaboration between diverse Lusophone and PALOP ( Portuguese speaking African countries) (PGCD, 2012) cultures from Angola, Cape Verde, Brazil, Sao Tome and Principe and Guinee Bissau, the mixture of different Lusophone rhythms aiming for the creation of something new.
Lisbon serves as the melting pot where different artists, musicians, Lusophone cultures and influences converge (Sousa,2016).
Understanding the role of the Portuguese language in bringing together different countries and the influence it had on the interrelations and interconnections between nations.
The goal of this project is to generate encounters between the Lusophone culture and music, and students/audiences and practitioners from different countries and cultures around the world, creating a nouvelle and exciting multicultural movement.