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Morris Nyunyusa: An icon artiste but ignored and forgotten
2006-11-05 09:30:56
By Rayner Ngonji
The late Morris Nyunyusa was one of the few artistes who made valuable contributions to the country’s development as far as cultural industry is concerned.
His efforts have placed Tanzania on the global map. I doubt whether the current generation knows much about him.
I recently conducted a random survey amongst the youths aged 20 to 30 but none responded positively.
Some of them asked me who this man was implying that they totally know nothing about the deceased nor did they take the trouble to know what is so special in him.
But this is the man who had developed a cultural identity for Tanzania. The drum beats that you hear before every Radio Tanzania news bulletin is his art work.
Indeed, he has made valuable contribution to the nation. You might take it for granted that it is a very minor thing especially when you consider the number of artistes we have.
But coming up with something of the sort and beautiful as it is, from an impaired vision person, it is not as easy as you would think.
Many countries especially in Africa do not have signature tunes of that kind for their news bulletin programmes.
Mozambique for example, just pronounces the words ’to Ruvuma au Maputo’ in Portuguese meaning ’from Ruvuma to Maputo,’ and it is not even dramatically done, then the bulletin is slotted in.
However, Mzee Morris has not been accorded the right attention and respect. Probably, because he was not a politician.
Traditions observed by those in the hierarchy are that a politician however insignificant, the post he holds accolades him status in the society.
So if mzee Morris were a politician, at least a street somewhere in the vast land of ours, would have been named after him.
Some politicians have been bestowed that honour without even substantial performance or to use their ’political language ’outstanding exemplary service.’
To name a street after one, with no outstanding contribution, just because she is/was married to a key figure doesn’t make sense and erodes the entire essence of the practice.
The significance of honouring mzee Moris does not arise from the fact that his drum beats had been adopted as national identity, but that was the work of a vision impaired man.
The story becomes more interesting when you are told that the beats that you hear come not only from one drum but a number of drums ranging from one to 14 whacked at a time.
Moris who died at 82 in 1999 was an impaired vision person since his birth. He began his artiste career with nine drums raising the number gradually to 14 by the time of his death.
His wife Anne was a key architect in his performance. She was the one who arranged the drums in order of their rhythms and with a slight hit he would demand that this and that drum be placed in this and that position.
When he participated in the cultural exhibition dubbed ’Expo 70’ held in Tokyo, Japan in 1970 along with the late Mbaraka Mwinshehe Mwaruka, a musician, Moris pulled hundreds of visitors at the Tanzanian pavilion then performing with only ten drums.
You cannot deny that his was a unique technique that required special skills.
Surely to ignore his work just like that is not only an unfair deal to say the least, but it also raises a lot of questions over the way we preserve and promote our culture.
Unless we reform we have a long way to realise the changes for a defined and maintained cultural outlook.
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