CUL - Main Content

This blog site features music videos and news about trends in Tanzanian hip-hop music and other forms of contemporary East African youth music with Swahili lyrics.

"...since 2003. Sauti za Busara, our flagship event, takes place every year in Stone Town during February...Sauti za Busara is more than ‘just’ a music festival: it contributes to the growth and professionalization of the creative sector in the region; provides learning, exchange and employment opportunities, and promotes Zanzibar globally as a leading destination for cultural tourism."
--See also: Sauti za Busara--Kiswahili version
--Plus: Previous festival editions

"...COSTECH is a parastatal organization with the responsibility of co-ordinating and promoting research and technology development activities in the country."
--See especially: COSTECH project publications

[Established in 2002]...the only music school in Zanzibar. The academy preserves, develops and promotes the unique musical heritage of Zanzibar and the Swahili coast."

The ESRF was established in 1993 as an independent not-for-profit non-governmental research institute for capacity building in economic and social policy analysis.

Introductory texts and essays in English on the Muslim experience in Tanzania and East Africa generally; with links to publications in Swahili: selected issues of a weekly Islamic news magazine and a cultural magazine.

A chart of Swahili sayings that often appear on the cotton cloth commonly worn by women in East Africa, especially in Tanzania or coastal Kenya. The chart also includes literal English translation and the deeper meanings.

"Mkuki na Nyota Publishers (MnNP) ni kampuni ya uchapishaji vitabu ya Tanzania iliyoanzishwa mwaka 1991, Dar Es salaam, Tanzania. Baada ya kuongoza Kampuni ya Uchapishaji Vitabu ya Tanzania Publishing House kwa muda wa miaka 18, Bwana Walter Bgoya alianzisha kampuni hii kwa lengo la kuchapisha vitabu vya taaluma ya juu – yaani kwa vyuo vikuu na taasisi nyingine za elimu ya juu. Katika kutilia mkazo zaidi uchapishaji wa vitabu vya aina hiyo, Mkuki na Nyota imeweza kuchapisha vitabu mbalimbali katika fani ya Sayansi ya Jamii, vikiwamo vitabu vya Sanaa, vitabu vya ziada kwa shule za msingi na sekondari na vitabu vya watoto wadogo."

"...a free-to-use collection of print materials from Eastern Africa, and film and photo materials from Afghanistan, Bolivia, China, Kenya, and Taiwan. Norman Miller (1933-) is one of the first American field workers who spent long periods of time in remote regions of Kenya and Tanzania, beginning in the British colonial era."
--See especially: "Guide to The Norman Miller Archives at The Smithsonian Institution and at Michigan State University." Edited by Franny Eanet and Jessica Achberger. (2019) 74 pages in PDF format.

General information about the Bujoro Cultural Center and Sukuma Museum in Kisesa, Tanzania (with colorful photos), and very briefly about the culture and history of the Sukuma people of western Tanzania.

General information about the TGNP, its activities, conferences, and publications (with some online excerpts). "Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) has been operational since 1993 as a registered non-governmental organization. During this period the NGO has built itself into an effective pressure group which promotes gender positive activism. TGNP is committed to facilitating social transformation leading to the creation of a vibrant Tanzanian society. It seeks to promote gender equality and social equity through the empowerment of women and other marginalised sections of the community."

"The Radio Tanzania Dar-es-Salaam archives contain over 100,000 hours of priceless Tanzanian music on damaged and deteriorating reel-to-reel tapes, and they need our help. The Tanzania Heritage Project is raising awareness and support for the preservation, digitization, and restoration of this priceless audio collection."

Organized by the History Department at University of Dar es Salaam in collaboration with the ERC-funded research project “A Global History of Technology, 1850-2000” at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany, the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), and the Foundation for the History of Technology in the Netherlands.
--The deadline for proposals is August 31, 2022.

A Kiswahili (and English language) web site featuring commentary on the politics of culture, development, governance, and other issues in Tanzania, other parts of East Africa, and elsewhere in the world. 

General information about the National Archives of Tanzania, its organization, and services.
--See also: Conference papers -and- Reports, including: The National Archives of Tanzania Fifty Years After Wright’s Report on the Government Records and Public Archives of Tanganyika, (2012) By Charles Magaya and James Lowry.

This official site featured general information for the visitor/researcher, with brief descriptions of the collections and a few photos.

General information on a wide variety of events and links to related websites. Plus, information from past festivals. "ZIFF is a non-profit organisation based in Zanzibar [founded in 1997] which aims to promote film, music and arts from the Dhow Countries (African Continent, Gulf States, Iran, India, Pakistan and the islands of the Indian Ocean). The organisation is working throughout the year and seeks to include people from all sectors of society, with special programmes for women, children and people in rural areas."

This site is mostly for tourists. However, there are a few useful documents on Zanzibar's history and culture; a helpful links page; plus, a short list of books.

A web site for Zanzibaris and others interested in Zanzibar, with useful information about Zanzibari history, culture, and contemporary society; plus a photographic gallery and related links. "...launched in August 1994...Kassim A. Abdullah and Hassan O. Ali, by then students at Queens and Ottawa Universities in Canada respectively, were the founders of Zanzinet Forum."
--See also: Zanzinet Swahili Poems -- Tungozaneti