Traditional moutya drum making workshop |31 March 2016

Keeping the tradition alive

 Several people, young and old alike, are being taught how to make the traditional moutya drum.

They are doing so in a five-day workshop organised by the National Heritage Research & Department Protection Section.

The workshop was officially opened on Monday morning at the English River community centre in the presence of staff from that section.

Sophia Rosalie, a research officer at the National Heritage Research & Department Protection, said such a workshop will enable them to document, and transfer the knowledge of how to make moutya drums the traditional way.

“We have seen that there is a need to educate people on how to make moutya drums the old fashion way and we wanted to share and transfer that knowledge to other people that were interested. We need more youths to be involved so that in the future they can carry on with such traditional craft, and also share that knowledge that they will gain from the workshop,” she said.

She noted that they are also documenting the event by filming and taking photos so that they can use it in their publication and for documentation purposes.

The workshop leader, Jude Ernesta, who used to work at the National Heritage Research & Department Protection Section, said it can cost between  R2,500 and R3,000 to make one moutya drum.

“I started making traditional moutya drums eleven years ago. Many musicians are still looking for traditional moutya drums but it is expensive to build one from scratch,” he said.

It is expected that this workshop will be organised every year, depending on demand and interest.