VII. Describing the Art and Culture
African cultures have not existed isolation,
meaning there have always been movement, exchange or trade of ideas. Different
forms of art and culture are depicted in the media, literature, film,
festivals, music, cuisines and religions of Lesotho (Meyers, 2017). For
instance, urban life is a perfect blend of traditional and western cultures. In
Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho, different markets and shops are present
where regional goods and crafts are sold in a large number. In addition, the
way some of the residential and commercial buildings are constructed reflects
the colonial impact. This city also has urban villages where tourists are given
a chance to closely explore the culture and traditions of Lesotho. The media
industry is not well-developed, but different artists or musicians have their
origins in Lesotho and are dominating the world in one way or the other. The
work of Lesotho’s artists has been prized by collectors a number of times.
The first notable influencer of art and
culture is DJ Spele. Born in November 1987 in Maseru, DJ Spele is a famous
composer who has influenced the way music is composed (Stuckey, 2008). He is
regarded as the first Mosotho to compose progressive house music. He has more
than forty tracks on his name, The journey of life ft Queen Mo, Pacific is dry
ft Skillz, and Light in your eyes ft Lyla being the best of them. The second
noticeable person who has influenced the art and culture is Mokete Shadrack
Chakela. He is widely famous with the name of Mosotho Chakela and was born in
Mafeteng in 1964. He is a cultural music singer and is famous for following the
music tradition known as famo. He released his first album in 1999, which was
named Manka le Phallang 1.
Atwell Sidwell Mopeli-Paulus, also known as
A.S. Mopeli-Paulus, was born in 1913 and was a popular author or writer from
Lesotho. Throughout his life, he continued writing short stories, poems and
novels in both English and Sesotho. One of his famous novels is To Travel Is To
Learn, which was written and published in 1945. Turn to the Dark, and Blanket
Boy’s Moon are among his other works. Secondly, Zakea Dolphin Mangoaela was the
writer who left ever-lasting impacts on local and international people through
his written materials. He was born in February 1883 in Cape of Good Hope and
emerged as an African writer and folklorist. He was raised in Lesotho, and his
famous works include Lithoko tsa Marena a Basotho (published in 1921) and Har'a
libatana le linyamatsane. He co-wrote the third volume of Grammar of the Sesuto
language.
When it comes to talking about artists, we
can say that Sankomota is the top band of Lesotho whose members have had left
positive impacts locally and internationally (Tancons, 2014). The band was
formed in 1976, and some of its most famous members were Frank Leepa (a
guitarist and vocalist), Moss Nkofo (a drummer), Moruti Selate (a lead
vocalist), Black Jesus (a percussionist), Tšepo Tšola (a lead vocalist,
composer) and Pitso Sera (a guitarist). From the start till 1979, this band was
managed by Peter Schneider. It is best known for Black Uhuru from the
Caribbean. On the other hand, Tsidii Le Loka was a female artist from the
Kingdom of Lesotho. She was born in April 1968 and is famous for originating
the role of Rafiki in The Lion King. She was nicknamed as Tsidii before her
migration to the United States.
It is very unfortunate that filmmaking in
Lesotho is quite immature as compared to other countries that are members of
the Southern African Communications Development. It looks like this industry
has not been given any importance or the government does not have an idea that
filmmaking can benefit the country economically or financially. If quality
films are produced, directed and marketed, then more and more people will be
attracted and the country can bring in lots of money from the outside world.
The producer of the Tu! program, Selloane Mokuku, is the only person who wants
the government to pay attention to the film industry. Their work has influenced
many people locally, and they now want to fix the problem of lack of
coordination between filmmakers and actors. There are no production houses,
meaning no company is interested in producing movies in Lesotho.
Mahali Selepe was born in 1981 (Harney,
1999). She is one of those very few Lesotho musicians who have impacted the
lives of local people in one way or the other. She began her singing career at
an early age. She used to sing songs in the local language, but later on,
Mahali Selepe began singing songs in English, and it was when she moved to the
United Kingdom in 2002. Over there, she began a music ministry in 2005 and
continued impressing her fans as a soloist. It was in 2008 when Mahali Selepe
came up with her first album called Dignified. It’s safe to say that this lady
had airplay on UK and South African radio stations like BBC Radio Three
Counties, Light FM, BBC Radio Leicester, and Lesedi FM. In 2010, in London, she
was a part of the Gospel Rock finals.
References
Meyers, M. A. (2017). A New
Valuation of Black Art. Art, Education, & African-American Culture,131-149.
doi:10.4324/9781351323246-8
Stuckey, S. (2008). African
Culture and Melvilles Art. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372700.001.0001
Tancons, C. (2014). Taking It
to the Streets: African Diasporic Public Ceremonial Culture Then and Now. Nka
Journal of Contemporary African Art, 2014(34), 60-65.
doi:10.1215/10757163-2415213
Harney, E. (1999). Black Art
And Culture In The 20Th Century. Nka Journal of Contemporary African
Art, 1999(10), 69-69. doi:10.1215/10757163-10-1-69
