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Maria Vera Chisvo

Lovemore Meya Arts Correspondent
Despite various assertions by local female musicians that they do not get recognition and exposure, jazz musician Maria Vera-Chisvo says their case is better than what their counterparts in Botswana experience.

Chisvo recently toured Botswana where she performed at a festival and exchanged notes with female musicians from that country.

She performed at the fifth edition of the Maun International Arts Festival.

The jazz diva said female musicians in Botswana have a tougher situation.

“One thing that I learnt throughout the festival was that in Zimbabwe women get better opportunities to be artistes as compared to what I heard in Botswana. For instance, when I started music, with just enough hard work it was very easy for me to get to the point where I am.

“When I spoke to some of the female artistes in Botswana, they said they have been working for years, but are not still struggling to get recognition. They said some of the venues are very expensive for them to hold shows and sponsorship is hard to come by,” she said.

Chisvo is thankful to the Zimbabwean community for the support they have given female artistes.

“I would like to thank all different organisations that support female musicians with one of them being Pamberi Trust, which is the biggest organisation that helps out women. A lot of girls in Botswana were complaining that they do not have enough support from organisations and even their government.

“After I heard those stories, my heart was in pain and at that moment I started to realise how important we should be appreciative of the little that we get back home,” said Chisvo.

Chisvo said despite the performances, they had quality time with other artistes from South Africa where they discussed issues to do with the recent Xenophobic attacks.

“During our discussions, the issue of Xenophobia came and most artistes concurred that we should live in peace as brothers and sisters.

“We were gathered as a team sharing the traditional food from Botswana and this united us as brothers and sisters.

“We also took the opportunity to share our knowledge as to how we prepare traditional foods in our countries,” she said.

Chisvo also expressed gratitude to the festival organisers for inviting her and had the chance to visit many places in Botswana for cultural exchanges.

She also said that the organisers were impressed by her performance and also promised to come and invite more musicians from the country to take part.

Chisvo formed her rock band in 2012 and later developed into funky jazz, a genre she coined herself, which is a fusion or jazz, funk, reggae and rock.