Nora Chipaumire with Thomas Mapfumo/The Blacks Unlimited
lions will roar, swans will fly, angels will wrestle heaven, rains will break: gukurahundi

About the Artists

This project marks the MCA debut for both Nora Chipaumire and Thomas Mapfumo. They work in the intertwined forms of dance and music, and this is their first collaboration. They are of different generations—Nora came of age listening to Thomas’s music—yet both are living in the United States, self-exiled from Zimbabwe.

• Nora Chipaumire

has toured the North Ameriac, Europe, and Africa since 2005 as a solo artist. Her multimedia dance works are "transnational, unafraid, and eager to burn cultural, creative, and geographic boundaries" (Village Voice). She also dances with and serves as associate director of the renowned dance company Urban Bush Women, and has worked with a wide range of choreographers including Germaine Acogny and Reggie Wilson. She is featured in the documentary film Movement (R)evolution Africa, and the dance film Nora by Alla Kovgan and David Hinton. She is a graduate of the University of Zimbabwe's School of Law, and holds graduate degrees in dance and choreography from Mills College.

Thomas Mapfumo

is known as "The Lion of Zimbabwe" for his immense popularity and for the political influence he wields through his music. He created the style of music-chimurenga, which means struggle in the Shona language-to accompany lyrics that called for the violent overthrow of his country's white minority rule. Mapfumo was sent to prison camp on charges of subversion in 1977. He arranged his release by agreeing to a special concert for his country's political leaders, but then played them only his most indignant material. Mapfumo formed his band Blacks Unlimited after Zimbabwe's 1978 independence. The band's celebration songs turned to protest—speaking out against false leaders, alcoholism, AIDS and domestic violence, among other things, while borrowing from mbira-based traditional music, reggae, R&B and African Jazz. After years of harassment, Mapfumo moved with his family to Oregon in the late 1990s. Born in 1945, he continues as a creative force, making music that is graceful, defiant, and truthful.