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Blacking, Professor John – How musical is man? - Venda music and the search for transcendence

Venda music is overtly political in that it is performed in variety of political contexts and often for specific political purposes. It is also political in the sense that it may involve people in a powerful shared experience within the framework of their cultural experience and thereby make them more aware of themselves and of their responsibilities toward each other.

"Muthu ndi muthu nga vhanwe," the Venda say:

"Man is man because of his associations with other men."

Venda music is not an escape from reality; it is an adventure into reality, the reality of the world of the spirit. It is an experience of becoming, in which individual consciousness is nurtured within the collective consciousness of the community and hence becomes the source of richer cultural forms.