Times Of Swaziland: ENCAC SUCCESSFULLY INTRODUCES CULTURAL EXPERIENCE AT RALLY

ENCAC SUCCESSFULLY INTRODUCES CULTURAL EXPERIENCE AT RALLY
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Mxolisi Dlamini on 03/09/2024 10:32:00


MBABANE – Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture (ENCAC) will now be
bringing local culture experience to all upcoming Swazi Rally editions.
This was revealed by ENCAC Chief Executive Officer (CEO)Stanley Dlamini during
an interview with this publication at the 31st edition of the Swazi Rally.
According to Dlamini, they have been having meetings with Swazi Rally, in which
they agreed they will now be having cultural activities in all upcoming Swazi
Rally editions. “Since April, we have been in talks with the Swazi Rally
team.Our presence at this year’s rally was a result of the meetings we had
with them. We introduced the cultural experience so that tourists who attend the
event for fun could also get to learn about local culture.
Appreciate
“Bikers will now have no need to travel to certain areas in the kingdom in
order to appreciate local culture, they will now experience everything in one
place, as we will be having such, even on other rally editions which are yet to
be hosted,” Dlamini said. ENCAC’s presence was felt during their debut at
the Swazi Rally since they managed to attract a number of bikers from outside
the country into the cultural village, where they hosted their activities. Some
of these activities included Sibhaca, Ingadla, fashion shows as well as singing
of local cultural songs.
Cultural
The thrills brought by different cultural troupes had bikers’ eyes glued in
the cultural village. Some of them were seen capturing the live performances
with their cellphones and some even joined the dance groups and performed with
them. According to Dlamini, they received positive feedback from bikers who
visited the cultural village at the rally. “We were honoured to have received
amazing feedback on the day. A lot of people were coming to us and asking a lot
about the cultural dances and some even wanted to be taught how to do
traditional dances. Such feedback gives a reflection of the high standard of our
culture, our heritage has grown beyond borders.We are grateful to the Swazi
Rally team for giving us space to exhibit our local culture at their reputable
event,” Dlamini said. Worth mentioning, the cultural village was launched
early August this year and according to Swazi Rally Director Carlos Paiva they
have been working on the village for some time.
Village
This was revealed by Paiva during the launch of the cultural village which was
also attended by the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, Bongani
Nzima. “The cultural village was established eight years ago, and the initial
idea was to promote the Eswatini culture. We want to simulate a scenario where
bikers can come in the cultural village and dress in traditional attire with
their motorcycles and take pictures with the bomake and bobabe, so that the
bikers will have photographs and have memories that they keep when they return
to their various homes,” Paiva said. To those who may have missed the action
from ENCAC at the Swazi Rally, videos of the performances are available on their
YouTube channel ‘Eswatini Arts TV’.