Culture Project

Religion

• Protestant 74.8% (includes Apostolic 37.5%, Pentecostal 21.8%, other 15.5%), Roman Catholic 7.3%, other Christian 5.3%, traditional 1.5%, Muslim 0.5%, other 0.1%, none 10.5% (2015 est.)

• Traditional beliefs and practices vary from one tribe to another
• Attendance is high at church services, which are important social events for most rural people.

• Many Zimbabweans have a mixed belief structure
• People are mainly Christian, but many different types of Christianity is practiced (Protestantism, Catholicism, etc.)
• Worship is often combined with traditional practices and beliefs such as consulting spiritual mediums or traditional healers (n'anga) and a strong belief in witchcraft, ancestor veneration, and clan affiliation with totems.

Religion

https://globalpressjournal.com/africa/zimbabwe/religion-public-health-collide/

Customs

• Zimbabweans greet strangers with a single handshake but use a longer handshake with friends.
• Close friends and relatives may greet each other with a hug.
• As a sign of respect, one might support the extended right arm with the left hand.
• Rural parents may be referred to by their oldest child's name: the prefix Mai- means “mother of,” and the prefix Baba- means “father of.” So the parents of Ngoni would be addressed as MaiNgoni (mother of Ngoni) and BabaNgoni (father of Ngoni).
• Any elderly person must be shown great respect, be greeted first, and be obeyed by children.
• Adults with more money and education may address each other by first name, adding a professional title if appropriate.
• Shonas may clap hands as a gesture of gratitude or politeness. Women and girls, especially in rural areas, may add a curtsy.
• In social settings, respect is shown by physically lowering oneself, so people sit when they converse (women sit on floor mats; men are higher up on stools or chairs). One does not rise when an elder enters the room.
• Making direct eye contact with an elder is considered rude.

https://www.africancraftsmarket.com/african-tribes/shona-people.html

Rituals

• After death, the body is usually prepared at a mortuary for burial. Mourners gather at the home of the deceased and sit with the family.
• Women dress in all black, whereas men pin a piece of black cloth onto the shoulder of their clothing.
• The body is usually buried alongside the person's ancestors.
• No formal period of mourning follows, but a remembrance ceremony may be held on the anniversary of the death.
• A year or two after a family member dies, people of the Shona ethnic group hold a kurova guva, a weeklong party through which the departed spirit is united with the living. Forgetting a kurova guva is thought to invite bad luck.

• Baby boys are generally more celebrated than girls, especially as a first child.
• Traditionally, a pregnant woman moves back in with her parents before giving birth to her first child so that she can learn about motherhood from her own mother. She returns home to her husband shortly after giving birth.
• They have a traditional ceremony known as kusungira to signal that the woman has gone back to her parent's home. The woman's husband puts a parcel of money tied up in cloth on her doorstep. When the woman's mother sees the parcel, she jumps over it and then picks it up. The money inside is used to have a dress made out of the cloth for the mother. The husband and his family then slaughter a goat and hold a feast for the wife's family. After the feast, the woman moves in.

Rituals

• Most couples desire to have a white wedding (a church wedding at which the bride wears white). These weddings can last more than a day and consist of two main events: the ceremony and a party.
• Most ceremonies take place in a church, where the couple exchanges vows and is pronounced married.
• Later, a party is held, involving much feasting, dancing, and drinking.

https://victoriafalls24.com/blog/2013/08/26/unwto-victoria-falls-street-carnival/the-nambya-dance-group-showing-how-they-perform-their-rituals-at-the-zimbabwe-cultural-village-in-victoria-falls/

Dress

• Wealth, or the appearance of it, is highly valued among most people.
• Men prefer suits for conducting business but otherwise wear shirts and slacks.
• Women often wear dresses that reach below the knee.
• Rural women wear a wraparound skirt with a blouse.
• For significant rural gatherings, women also wear a dhuku (headscarf).
• Children wear uniforms to school.
• At home, boys often wear shorts and T-shirts, while girls wear skirts
• For more formal occasions, boys often wear jeans and girls might wear dresses.
• Boys may wear caps as a fashion statement.

Dress

https://danddclothing.com/blogs/african-fashion-blog/zimbabwean-traditional-wedding-styles

Traditions

• National holidays include New Year's Day (1 January), Robert Mugabe National Youth Day (21 February), Easter (including Good Friday and Easter Monday), Independence Day (18 April), Workers' Day (1 May), Africa Day (25 May), Heroes Day (second Monday in August), Defense Forces Day (second Tuesday in August), Unity Day (22 December) Christmas (25 December), and Boxing Day (26 December).
• Easter is celebrated throughout the country. In wealthier urban areas, hot cross buns and Easter eggs are offered for sale in the weeks surrounding the holiday. Many people gather to watch a procession commemorating the death of Christ. Some Christian churches hold all-night vigils to celebrate Easter. In urban areas, people of all religions may join in Easter celebrations.
• Christmas is the most celebrated holiday in Zimbabwe. Families buy new clothing for children, and a special meal of rice and chicken would be served. Families would visit one another and hold parties with music.
• Zimbabweans may celebrate these patriotic holidays with parties-
• Heroes Day honors casualties of the liberation struggle. Government-sponsored celebrations are held in stadiums but are not well attended.
• Defense Forces Day honors the armed forces. On this day, branches of the military give demonstrations to the public.
• On Workers' Day, workers normally gather to hear addresses from their leaders.

https://www.exoticca.com/us/africa/south-africa/zimbabwe/events

Music

• Most Zimbabweans like to dance.
• Urban youth may prefer U.S. music such as rap and hip-hop over local music
• Zimdancehall, a genre with roots in Jamaican reggae, is popular among young people.
• Urban grooves is a genre similar to hip-hop and rap except sung in Zimbabwe's native languages.
• Another popular local style of music is chimurenga, which combines traditional Shona music with electric instruments.
• Also widespread is music played with the mbira, an instrument with small metal strips plucked by the thumbs.
• Mbira music has been adapted to electric guitars in a style known as jiti.
• Sungura is Zimbabwean pop music and combines aspects of many different styles of music.

https://www.victoriafalls-guide.net/zimbabwe-music.html

Food

• Zimbabweans eat breakfast before work and their main meal in the evening.
• Lunch is usually light.
• Depending upon what one is eating, people may use Western utensils or the fingers of their right hand.
• Everyone washes his or her hands before and after a meal, using a washbasin passed from person to person.
• It is customary that a younger person pours water for an older person.
• Rural families may eat from a communal dish, depending on the food.
• Rural families eat together, but children eat separately if guests are present.
• Chicken is a favorite but expensive meat.
• Beef is more desirable but even harder to attain, especially in rural areas.
• When guests are present, they are served first and given some meat with their meal.
• One claps softly and says Ndaguta (I am satisfied) after a meal to show respect and indicate one has been well provided for.

https://cdn.tasteatlas.com/images/dishes/25adf3d4153148109d9c600cfdab016a.jpg

Art

• Zimbabwean sculpture, which has roots in the stone carvings of Great Zimbabwe, experienced a revival in the 1950s.
• Often using mythology and tribalism as their inspiration, sculptors create abstract forms of animal and human figures.

https://trainersclub.com/zimbabwe-artists-project/

Art

https://theculturetrip.com/africa/zimbabwe/articles/the-top-10-artists-in-zimbabwe/

Literature

Renowned novelist and short-story writer Doris Lessing grew up in Southern Rhodesia and described the experiences of colonial white Africans.

Other Zimbabwean authors such as Stanlake Samkange and Tsitsi Dangarembga have received international acclaim for their works.

Literature

https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/apr/22/literatureandcrisisinzimba

Languages

Languages

• Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, including Shona, Ndebele, and English.
• Shona is the most commonly spoken language, followed by Ndebele.
• In addition to their native languages, most educated Zimbabweans also speak English, the language of business

They are used for instruction in some primary schools but are being replaced by English in secondary schools.

Because learning in English is hard for many students, some rural secondary teachers use indigenous languages to help teach important concepts.

Zimbabweans often speak more than one language, and many mix parts of several languages in daily speech.

https://www.newzimbabwe.com/zimbabwe-has-no-official-language-govt/

Travel Spots

Mana Pools National Park, Sapi and Chewore Safari Areas

Great Zimbabwe National Monument

Khami Ruins National Monument

Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls

Matobo Hills

Travel Spots

https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/zimbabwe-coronavirus-reopening-tourists

Citations

ProQuest. (2022). Zimbabwe. CultureGrams Online Edition. Retrieved from https://online.culturegrams.com/world/world_country.php?contid=1&wmn=Africa&cid=180&cn=Zimbabwe..

CIA. (2022, April 4). Photos of Zimbabwe - The World Factbook. CIA. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/zimbabwe/

Citations

UNESCO. (2022, July 8). UNESCO World Heritage Centre - World Heritage List. UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/&order=country#alphaZ