TEDxDAR 2011: The Morning Edition
I am here at the newly refurbished National Museum where the 2011 TEDxDAR event is taking place. The choice of location is apt. A national museum is after all the place where one's history is preserved, to remind us of whence we came and to inform those who will come after us of a legacy we would leave for them.
It is on that note that Nadeem Juma, the host of TEDxDAR, introduces this year's theme.
“Who Killed Zinjanthropus?”
Zinjanthropus – a fossil of early man discovered in Tanzania – is a useful metaphor. As Tanzania is celebrating it's semi-centennial, it is an opportune time to examine our present t and come to foresee where we might be heading. As Nadeem puts it: what is a modern Tanzania, what's the difference between modernity and development? And what is the intersection?
The proceedings began with a call to action from Kathleen Bomani, one of the organizers. Miss Bomani, speaking all the way from Philadelphia, challenged the Tanzanians sitting on this impressive new theatre here at the National Museum, to work on collaborating with their brothers and sisters in the diaspora. The potential for transformative change lives there, she suggested.
And from that came the first talk by Roland Valckenborg. Mr. Valckenborg, the founder of 'I Love Windpower - Tanzania', argued that as energy consumers we are responsible for killing Zinjanthropus. Man's addiction to electricity is straining our natural resources and has led to an inevitable energy crisis. And unless we rethink our approach, we are going to run out of energy within fifty years, argued Mr. Valckenborg.
But there are solutions available to us: alternative energy. 'We need to exploit all these alternative energy sources to the maximum', says Mr. Valckenborg. At some point, we are going to have incorporate alternative energy sources in our attempts to solve the energy crisis.
And Wind Energy is one potential. He gave the example of the Malawian, William Kamkwamba, who using freely available raw materials (scrap metal, etc) was able to create a wind turbine for his village from where they were able to get electricity.
'We are energy junkies', he declared.
Tanzania has opportunities on wind energy, he went on. It starts with us, looking for alternative energy solutions in our daily lives. The onus is on us all.
So here is a question: will increasing demand for energy lead to innovative solutions to the energy crises in this country?
Following Mr. Valckenborg was Mr. Erasto Mpemba, a scientist. Mr. Mpemba became famous for observing the phenomenon that warmer things freeze quicker than cold ones. This phenomenon has come to be known as the 'Mpemba Effect'.
Mr. Mpemba full-filled the theme "story-telling" recounting how he discovered this phenomenon. At his secondary school, Mr. Mpemba and his classmates used to freeze milk-cubes. One day, he came back from playing football and his milk cubes froze faster than his friend's. Why? Mr. Mpemba wondered. He remembered that he had boiled his milk while his friend had freezed his cold.
This curious development, seemed to challenge Newton's law. While Mr. Mpemba's teachers did not take him seriously, later a certain Dr. Denis Osborne did. Mr. Mpemba asked this physicist from the University of Dar es Salaam about his observation. His curiosity piqued, Dr. Osborne later performed an experiment and in 1969, he and Mr. Mpemba wrote up their results. Hence, the Mpemba effect entered science's lexicon.
The first two talks revealed an insight of how change comes about: through self-reflection, perpetual curiosity and the need to look seriously at what is happening around us. The potential for change tends to exist closer to home, if only we allow ourselves to be open to the possibilities discoverable in our world.
The musician Msafiri Zawose's talk provided an important perspective on the centrality of culture in building up a nation. 'A country without culture, is a country that is not free,' he says. He reminded us that there was a time in this country where people knew each others' origins through their cultural signifiers. Msafiri, whose music is reflective of his Kigogo culture, inherited this tradition from his father, Hukwe Zawose, himself a prominent musician.
Msafiri, one of the few contemporary artists in Tanzania working within a traditional aesthetic, points out that it is important for local artists to incorporate their traditions into their music. Traditional music, is struggling, Msafiri says. One wonders why Bongo Flava is yet to truly develop what could be a fascinating dynamic between the traditional and the contemporary. A clash between the highly technological Bongo Flava and the mostly instrumental traditional music could forge the definitive music of this generation. In this could emerge a musical tradition that connects the present with what came before, and define a future, fresh aesthetic of what Tanzanian music could be.
And before departing the stage, Msafiri, with his wonderful Ilimba, injects a quiet blue note into proceedings, reminding us of the aching beauty of our country's music.
With that, we completed TEDxDAR 2011's morning edition.
