Gondwana Collection in Namibia

Bio

Housed at the National Museum of Namibia, the Gondwana Collection in Namibia is a music instrument archive among the people of Namibia. The collection features various musical bows. Basic types include one-stringed, unbraced bows without a resonator, such as the ancient hunting bow, which is also used as a musical instrument; secondly, single-stringed, unbraced bows with a notched stave without a resonator; unbraced musical bows with a resonator; braced mouth-resonated bows and lastly braced bows with a resonator. The okambulumbumbwa of the AaNdonga, which is also played by the HaMbukushu, BaYeyi and OvaZemba, forms part of the last group of musical bows.

Such musical bows were often handed down from one generation to the next and these old instruments are today highly prized. The National Museum of Namibia possesses one example of the okambulumbumbwa, which was collected by Sybil Bowker during the 1920s.

The collection also features another musical bow, played by women called okayaya. The bow of the instrument is shaped like a hacksaw and it has notches cut into it. The string usually consists of a piece of palm leaf which is secured at the one end to the bow by a knot, while the other end is wound around the protruding point of the bow stave a few times until the tension is correct. During a culture festival in 1976 it was observed that the player had wound the end of the palm leaf around her thumb instead. The bow is played with a small stick, which is scraped across the notches. The mouth serves as resonator.

KENairobi, Kenya

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Gondwana Collection in Namibia
Profile added by Ano Shumba on 19 Oct 2015
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