Full of life and passion for the creative arts, Tawona Sithole is the University of Glasgow’s UNESCO Artist in Residence, as well as a researcher and teacher embedded within the School of Education.
The name ‘Tawona’ is not his only name, who also goes by ‘Ganyamatope’ (his ancestral family name). The name Ganyamatope, Tawona says, centres him within a broader collective and refers to more than the physical person. “It connects me to my ancestors and to my family – my grandmother who told me stories as a child. It connects me to a wider network of people and experiences that transcend the physical being”.
Growing up in post-independence Zimbabwe, Tawona experienced a childhood that was marked by celebration and passion for the arts. His parents played host to regular parties and events at the family home where local musicians and poets would perform. This sparked a deep interest in language, music and performance that defines him today.
"I have a big energy for life and try to embrace every day in the most positive way I can."
From this, Tawona’s own early education was two-fold: the formal schooling, “Why did they make us wear school blazers in 35C heat?”, and a vibrant, creative education delivered through the arts by his family, his friends, and the environment in which he grew up.
This dual education, Tawona says, is a major influence on how he approaches learning and teaching today. Tawona’s methods are varied and often involve the use of music, rituals, stories and performance to engage students and explore different ways of teaching. “The more that can be in the mix, the better … I like to enrich the space in all manner of ways”.
Tawona loves the use of narrative and traces this passion to the stories (known traditionally as ‘Ngano’) told by his grandmothers (Mbuya) as a child. “In my family, stories are a fundamental tool to teach, to guide, to resolve conflict.”
Tawona says his love of language, in particular the use of the spoken word, was sparked by his grandmothers’ storytelling. “To see this frail little old lady, who by telling stories, suddenly transforms into this wondrous, magical being through the power of spoken language. These are the words we use every day, but sometimes they can sparkle with magic and life and mystery. That magic of language stayed with me.”
Tawona says the most rewarding parts of his role at UofG are the everyday encounters with the community – what he calls “the magnificence of ordinary people”. Tawona sees great potential in the UofG community, and once more likens it to experiences of his childhood: “We had these great musicians at our house with these wonderful instruments. These instruments had an energy of their own – an energy that in the right hands would be transformed into music.”
“There is a spirit in the University that you can sense: the buzz of the James McCune Smith, the hushed silence of the library, conversations in the corridors of the ARC. I love the idea of changing the world through ideas, and these ideas are carried and transformed in our people.”
Tawona joined UofG after being approached after a performance. After being asked to join a few lectures to perform for students at the medical school, Tawona agreed to bring his own style to the class. “I said yes – I guess I’m a bit of an adventurer that way”. In more recent years, Tawona has been working with Professor Allison Phipps who is the holder of the UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts, and was appointed UNESCO Artist in Residence.
Tawona also works with academics, occasionally joining classes to take a few sessions and use performance to convey concepts to students in his own way. “I do lots of crazy things! We do rituals, play music, all different things. Students leave with an altogether new experience”
Outside of the University, Tawona is a successful playwright, poet, storyteller and musician, performing at festivals such as the Edinburgh Fringe. He is also a co-founder of Seeds of Thought, a non-funded arts group.
Everyone who knows Tawona can attest to his positivity: “I have a big energy for life and try to embrace every day in the most positive way I can. People who know me will agree it is rare to see me having a low day.”
“I wake up every morning the same way: I sit for five minutes – I don’t have a word but call it meditation – and I manifest the wish to have another good day, to bring positive energy into everything I do.”