Iyasa set to collaborate with Austrian group

BULAWAYO's much travelled arts ensemble Iyasa are back in the country after a five month long tour in Australia.

They arrived back in the country last Sunday. The group which has dazzled many in the local and international scene is set to collaborate with Austrian duo Ufa and Erick Stern on a production titled Amaculo Zim meets Austria.

"Our tour was successful. We are going back in September for an award giving ceremony where we have been invited to perform on 20 September. We might probably be up for an award.

"We are also set to launch our musical collaboration with an Austrian group that comprises Lifa and Erick Stern. The two are husband and wife. In the musical we will also work with choirs of about 200 people and traditional groups.

The collaboration has been titled Wald4tel trift Zimbabwe meaning Amaculo Zim Meets Austria," said Iyasa founder and director Nkululeko Dube.

Dube said some of the greatest achievements which they made during the show were sharing the stage with Jeys Marabini and his band Kozekulunge and Insingizi on an international platform.

"I am grateful because we managed to collaborate with Jeys and Iyasa by holding shows together. The shows demonstrated the strength of Zimbabwean artistes that hail from Matabeleland after so much criticism.

"We proved that Matabeleland can do it judging from the response which we received. I noticed that it is not about talent but lack of the audience to support their artists. There is a good audience in Europe, only a few people know about Insingizi in Zimbabwe but it has a huge fan base on the international market," he said.

He also gave praise to Iyasa members Future Sibanda and Nomathamsanqa Mkhwananzi for raising the group's name high on the arts platform.

"One of our products Future is studying at the Music and Art Consortium and has been doing music as a solo dancer and solo musician. He has been having shows on his own where he was being backed by international musicians.

"Nomathamsanqa also performed with Dolly Parton during the Dolly Parton Festival which was held in the United States. This shows the growth of the group and I am very much impressed," said Dube.

During the tour Iyasa explored Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland and Sweden where they also performed at different festivals.