A hut decoration competition being run by Amagugu International Heritage Center has entered its second week with Zimbabweans calling for the preservation of this exceptional culture practiced nationwide.
Cultural activists, Stars Thebe Mathe and Reverend Ray Motsi, say hamlet painting, normally conducted soon after crop harvests, is a symbol of Zimbabwean beauty and love.
Both Mathe and Motsi believe hut decorations are a rich cultural heritage, which can be used for attracting local and foreign tourists through the government’s much-hyped eco-tourism programme.
They say though some Zimbabweans now have huge brick-made houses instead of hamlets in rural areas that cannot be decorated using refined mud, the hut painting culture should be preserved.
Mathe says this practice can be found in all parts of the country.
