Blog & Insights
Research reflections, field notes, and commentary on music, community, and scholarship.
18 July 2026
Unpeaceful music
Use of personal, performative gift-giving to draw popular musicians away from public commentary on contested political questions is a form of political silencing. What kind of nation is being built when its most visible cultural figures have been drawn one by one into a patronage economy that rewards them most for staying quiet at the moments when speaking would have cost the most.
20 June 2026
Unfiltered and liberated
For years, my creative side was suffocated by the rigid structures, intellectual policing, and institutional expectations of academia. Today marks my liberation day! This is the journey of unlearning years of institutional self-censorship and finally giving my inner creative room to breathe and live freely.
20 June 2026
Mbira music and spirituality in Zimbabwe – learning the living tradition
Mbira music in Zimbabwe is intrinsically linked to the nation's religious, cultural, and spiritual practices, with a history of division between Christian and traditional African spiritual practices. The music serves as a medium for communicating with either ngirozi (angels) or vadzimu (ancestors), with distinct instruments like the Nyunga Nyunga and Nhare serving different secular and sacred roles, respectively.