ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Venda tshikona reed-pipe dance – a traditional music practice in South Africa – and provides a glimpse of how ‘music of a community’ links in complex ways to traditional cultural practices, education, and the politics of knowledge. Located in the rural chiefdom of HaMakuya, the chapter maps tshikona’s multiple meanings as a nexus within a rich musical community and connected to the wider social ecology. Using the lens of the rhizome, the chapter follows several divergent narratives pathways: participating in a tshikona ensemble; Venda music in the literature; Wits University’s community engagement project in HaMakuya; traditional music in education; the culture bearer as community musician; and tshikona, rain and the politics of knowledge. The chapter argues for a contextual understanding of traditional music ensembles that acknowledges complexity and ambiguity. It concludes by considering how tshikona is conceptualised as community music, interrogating notions of community music in South Africa.
