Creativity without expression hurts the soul.
Intro and Selection by Alex Gwaze (Curator)
The creative spirit of Africans is a boundless force that weaves together literature, art, music, and healing into a profound expression of identity and resilience. Rooted in ancient oral traditions, its light manifests in all forms of art – preserving our history, painting untold truths, and releasing melodies that echo the soul’s deepest emotions. From the griots’ poetic verses to the spiritual antidotes of healers, creativity is both a means of survival and a celebration of life. It is an evolving dialogue between past and present, where ancestral wisdom meets contemporary innovation, ensuring that African artistry continues to heal, inspire, and transform the world.
Born to Give
BY VUYO MTHETHO
South African multidisciplinary artist, who founded Witnessing by Vu, a creative wellness brand that explores the interplay between observer and observed. Through visual art, photography, and poetry, Vuyo creates spaces for gentle self-reflection and collective witnessing, without judgement.
The artist knows no other way to live.
She wants to create and
breathe life to formless thought,
She wants to mend and mould,
She seeks out the muse because it is
her chosen antidote – the very cure to survival.
Everything, she does for the sake of finding,
For the sake of healing and learning,
And for teaching about the transformative nature
of sitting with feelings, and I don’t mean regulating.
So I look at art as the creator’s last hope,
Taking all the art in because
it is the seat of free thinking,
Running into art on purpose and taking it in,
Gulping spoonfuls, resting in its
Connection to divinity,
Without it, I would be left to sit and
face the insides of my mind
Warring against a great army of
belligerent cynics and learned self
rejection.
So I’ll do what I can to get
my dosage of this prescription,
Consuming not just for the consumption,
Because this art is no luxury, but necessity
Because this art is medicine.
I’ll lie here and just be mesmerised
By the works of other minds,
drugging my own until it has
no choice but to be inspired,
Forcing the mother in me to labour
until she births something worth loving.
I’m no bride and I may never be
I have no sons to send out into the world,
But I will try to teach you all that I have learned
through these creations, through these
endless moments spent chasing and facing the self.
And I can only hope that they inspire you
to build cities of your own lineage
We were born to give – this art is yours,
let it claim you and let it live immortal,
a chain of inspiration
Take it and make of it a healer for you
and all the pains of being – let it be
your path to salvation.
For It Is Written
BY NATHANIEL Z MPOFU
Zimbabwean writer and Librarian also known as The Penmaster. Nathaniel is Bulawayo Arts awards (BAA) and African Writers awards winning, author who has published 10 books to date.
In the sanctuary of Inforrinov Children’s Library
Courtesy of Makhosazana Ndiweni’s honorary
Intellectual Calvary
The numerology of ideas
Numerous as the census in years
Serenade to celebrate the art
For it is a taught art in part
Of transfiguring letters and vowels
Thetas, ether and iambs
To a logic that governs what we call real:
Literacy.
Authors, librarians, teachers,
children and technology
Gathered in spontaneous but deliberate methodology
To further our iris’ reach, its lenses to further peel.
Of note, a mother tongue illustration
The tale of ‘ULuba,’ a Ndebele nation’s daughter
And creative, informative rendition by her mother,
The NyathiZee
The audience’s thrill as A-B-C to see;
Patience Ziramba- ‘Sweet Purple Sight’s author
Narrated her trully relevant number
Of a story
Capturing as ‘Thandi the river protector,’
And a most mature interactive book reading;
Last but not least
So long was the list
Ink’s hard to resist,
An animated book promo video of
The award winning ‘Inkless Quills,’ children’s book series I reek of.
Gratitude that spins circles around it’s own magnitude.
Young One Rise
BY AYE BRANDON KIVEN
Cameroonian secondary school mathematics and physica teacher, who was longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
Young one, I have heard you.
You may rise.
What you have done is a good surprise,
For many young ones do not care,
Going about their lives as if there is no need for a repair.
The things you have dreamt I shall endeavour to do,
Making efforts to live ways that are ingredients for you.
But be aware that the efforts would never be sufficient,
For you and I are with flaws,
Far from being omniscient.
But It’s okay, carry your light;
As no one is too small to be the change they crave,
As long as we choose to be brave.
Do not allow them make you restless.
While it’s okay to point them out, or condemn,
Do not forget to mine the diamonds in them.
I am happy to hear you talk about hardwork,
May it remain twined with your art, for laziness always lurks.
Offering only a bowl of dependence, regret, negative impact,
Never distance yourself from this fact.
Always remember,
The hope you seek
Shouldn’t stop you from being the hope others seek.
As you journey, embrace self-discipline,
As you journey, embrace patience,
As you journey, embrace humility,
As you journey, embrace open-mindedness,
As you journey, read,
Embrace the growth mindset,
As you journey, embrace flexibility,
As you journey, embrace selflessnees, compassion,
I wish you good luck,
In all that you will make with your light.
Cover image from: @afrostylemagz
MUD Journal 