By Elias Mhegera
DIPLOMACY and culture will converge today in the evening at the Kilimanjaro Hotel Kempinski Showcase – when Tanzanians will join the Chinese to celebrate their new year.
The occasion that will attract diplomats and the business community has been organized in the collaboration of the Kilimanjaro Hotel Kempinski and the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China in Tanzania this is the first 2011 “Kempinski Showcase” at the Hotel to be conducted this evening.
The Showcase which coincides with the Chinese New year festival will be comprised of folk art, musical and martial art festivities while also showcasing Tanzanian art and design.
The Showcase’s highlight will be two Tanzanian designers; Diana Magesa and Caroine Uliwa. Diana Magesa is one of Tanzania’s most original fashion designers.
In 2009, Magesa showcased her designs at Miss Universe Tanzania. Diana‘s creativity and professionalism was instrumental in positioning the pageant in promoting Tanzanian beauty, creativity and art.
She went on to design national costumes for the winners that took part in Miss Universe, Miss Earth and Miss International.
Her design for Miss Earth won the Best in National Costume, a first in Tanzania in the history of Miss Earth. In 2010, Magesa began teaching and inspiring children in Morogoro, Tanzania to be creators and designers. Magesa has been participating in various fashion shows successfully.
Diana will present an exclusive collection of 12 outfits, two of which includes fabrics from China, inspired by Chinese style and couture.
Caroline Uliwa is one of Tanzania’s young fashion designers. The Showcase is her very first opportunity to showcase her collection. She was first inspired to fashion at the tender age of six, when she would draw small figurines of her and her mum wearing stilettos and pencil skirts.
From then on, her interest the arts continued culminating in the courage to further explore her talent while pursuing a career in journalism. Her ultimate dream as a professional designer is being realized as she showcases her “Tight Stilettos“ collection for the very first time to a Tanzanian audience.
The featured Showcase Artist is Masoud Kibwana, from Mtwara Region in Southern Tanzania. Trained under Max Kanunidi, he also attended ADEA (African Development through Economics and Art), a vocational training center and the Russian Cultural Centre.
Masoud was also one of the seven artists’ in residence at the first ever “Kili” Art Camp organized and hosted by the Kilimanjaro Kempinski in 2010. He paints vivid abstract fine art depicting lifestyles of different communities and the problems facing society. Massoud has created works of art exclusively of the Showcase.
The Showcase also includes Chinese folk art – the Lion Dance and an exciting presentation of tai chi. Other presentations include Chinese paper cutting, glass paining, kite making and clay mounding.
The Chinese New Year is the most important and ceremonious traditional festival in China, just as Christmas Day to the westerners and other parts of the globe. The New Year falls on the first day of the first lunar month and is called the Spring Festival.
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