Seminario Permanente di Antropologia Culturale del CREAa 2025-2026

“GWAZA-MUTHINI” AS MOZAMBICAN CULTURAL HERITAGE

Intervento di: Fernando Manjate (Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo-Mozambico)

Data: 24 marzo 2026

Orario: 15:00 – 16:30

Sede: In presenza presso la Sala Riunioni 2, II piano di Palazzo Zorzi, Lungadige Porta Vittoria, 17, Verona

Link Zoom: https://univr.zoom.us/j/84530612286

Abstract

“Gwaza-Muthini” is an annual ceremony held on February 2 in Marracuene, Mozambique. During my ethnographic field research in Marracuene, I attended the “Gwaza-Muthini” celebrations several times as part of my interest in the cultural heritage of this community and beyond.

My study highlights how “Gwaza-Muthini” is both a traditional and modern ceremony that encompasses historical, cultural, and political dimensions. It also emphasizes the importance of considering it part of Mozambican cultural heritage as a crucial element of identity, commercial interest, and, above all, cultural recognition.

Biographical Note

Dr. Fernando Matai Manjate earned a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Uppsala University.

He is a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Faculty of Arts of Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique.

In 2022, he published a book titled Something good but nothing to be proud of – Inheritance and succession practices, and sociopolitical stakes in times of decentralization in Marracuene, Mozambique, based on his doctoral thesis.

His main areas of research are property relations and rights, cultural heritage, and migration.