Africa-Press – Mozambique. This weekend, the Nkaringanarte Cultural Association and Kuvaninga closed its cycle of bookbinding workshops, part of the Nó da Gaveta Literary Contest.
The workshops took place at the Matalana Cultural Centre in Marracuene, and brought together local adolescents and young people, members of the Mavoko Cultural Association, and activists from Associação Helpo, who work with children in the library and playroom environment.
In all, there were 10 participants, who for three days learned about the process of producing handmade books, including the cutting and painting of cardboard covers and the sewing of the cover to the book’s core, and also about literature, copyright and the production and sustainability of handcrafted books.
It is hoped that the workshops will generate a nucleus of book publishers and producers in Matalana, in order to expand opportunities for editing and publishing books by local authors, as well as activating psycho-motor skills in participants and other children and teenagers.
The workshop also aims to raise awareness of environmental preservation, through the reuse of cardboard, as well as cultivating the creative spirit through painting and handicrafts.
The activity served as an encouragement to the town of Matalana, which was for a long time deprived of artistic activities with the closing of the Matalana Cultural Center, a legacy left by Malangatana Valente Ngwenya to the new generation.
The workshop formed part of a program that included painting, music and tourism activities promoted by the Mavoko Cultural Association.
Laliana Joao Mahumane, author of “The Other Side Of Flowers” and winner of the Nó da Gaveta competition in the southern part of the country, shared her experience with the participants and encouraged them to read, and perhaps start writing themselves.
Two prior workshops were held: one in Ilha de Moçambique, aimed at educators from three children’s centres and the work “The Dream of Chinguana”, by Cleyde Pamela, and the second in the city of Beira, aimed at members and supporters of Literary Association Kulera, and the work “The Adventures of Manuelito”, by João Baptista.
The Nó da Gaveta Literary Contest was launched on 18 August and distinguished three new fiction works, one in the south of Mozambique, another in the centre and another in the north of the country. The three awarded works, each representing a region of the country, were edited by Kuvaninga Cartão d’Arte, and bound with reused cardboard covers.
