13 May 2013

Jazz artist, Punah Gabasiane, recently performed at the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe.

Puna was also happy to have interacted with other musicians from South Africa, the Netherlands, UK, Italy, Nigeria, Australia and Japan.

She said in an interview that, since the show was a cultural exchange event, her performance did not only boost her profile, but she also managed to lift the Botswana flag  high.

“I was very excited about this opportunity and I made sure that I raised our flag very high,” she said proudly. The artist said it was a big opportunity for the growth of the country’s local music because she gained immensely from the show.

“I also do believe that our music will start playing on Zimbabwe’s radio stations because people showed a lot of interest after watching us perform,” she said.

She did not rule out the prospect of collaboration between herself and other artists who performed at the festival.  However, Punah said she was concentrating on her child welfare project as well as a single album to be released before end of the year.

Punah noted that even though they endured a long and tiring road trip prior to their performance, she was grateful to the Department of Arts and Culture and the Botswana High Commission in Zimbabwe for assisting with travel logistics.  ENDS