VMA announces support for Tshima Awards

The Vhembe Music Association (VMA) has just announced its full support for the fourth edition of the Tshivenda Music (Tshima) Awards.

The VMA is a non-profit organisation and a custodian of Tshivenda-speaking musicians. Its mandate is to protect the rights of Tshivenda-speaking musicians and improve the standard of the Tshivenda music industry.

The association's general secretary, Tshidino Ndou, told Limpopo Mirror that it was easy to come up with ideas, but the implementation of those ideas was always very difficult. “We praise the team behind the Tshima Awards for celebrating artists while they are still alive,” he said. “I always encourage our members to participate in all the awards, even if they don't win.”

Entries for the 2017 Tshivenda Music Awards (Tshima) officially closed on 7 July after the deadline was extended by another week. The extension was to give artists who had missed the deadline a second chance to submit their entries.

Tshima is an annual ceremony established to recognise, promote and reward local artists who pride themselves on singing in the Tshivenda language while preserving the rich heritage and cultural diversity of the Vhavenda people.

The event's director, Mr Augustine Nethononda, has since said the event would see nominees competing in14 categories, two more than the last event. Final nominees will be announced at a gala dinner scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday).

“The VMA supports the Tshivenda Music Awards and will continue to encourage artists, songwriters, composers and producers to preserve the Tshivenda language and culture through music,” Tshidino said.

Entertainment - Date: 28 July 2017

Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

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