Ahsante sana. Nashukuru.
Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF). After the Global Images Meeting in Zanzibar during ZIFF 2012, now watch OUT for the next July 2013 ZIFF/ZUKU events. You are all invited in Zanzibar during ZIFF2013!! Promise a lot of Excitement and New Networking Opportunities!
On 21 Mac 2013, at 15:14, "B DESOUZA" <bennydesouza@btinternet.com> wrote:
Dear MahmoudI convey my greatest appreciation for your posting which will be added to a special 'TRIBUTE TO JOHN DE SILVA' blog spot which I will send you a copy. Your posting below will be copied as from you and as sent. Thanks a million. Much appreciated and I am so happy to see so many great tributes received which you will soon see.Today at 3.30 pm is the funeral and I await photographs as arranged.Also Mohamed Lodhi has been very instrumental with his good messages and photographs which I will be adding. You certainly bring warmth to me and even whilst reading your messages and close concern brings tears to my eyes.Best regardsBenny
From: Mahmoud Kombo <mahmoudkombo@hotmail.com>
To: Mohamed Lodhi <lodhi@swipnet.se>
Cc: Amir Rashid <amir_rashid786@hotmail.com>; Benny DESOUZA London UK <bennydesouza@btinternet.com>
Sent: Thursday, 21 March 2013, 11:08
Subject: Re: John de Silva
Tayari imeshawekwa hii ktk blog na facebook. Pse see below.MKJohn Baptiste da Silva – 1937 - 2013 - A story to be told
The wind was blowing and the movie screen was shaking on a hotel rooftop high above the remains of Stone Town, ancient capital of the Zanzibar archipelago. Yet John Da Silva, then 75, was undeterred. He wanted to tell his story. Many followers and friends will remember how the frail man with spectacles made up his way on the steep staircase of Emerson Spice hotel to give entertaining power point lectures about the elaborate and often painful history of Zanzibar, every fortnight or so. The audience of eager listeners was growing every week - tourists, expatriates and locals alike.
John da Silva passed away today (on March 20, 2013) at the age of 76, with his family by his side, leaving many wondering: Who, now, will pick up where the renowned historian left and continue to tell the story?
Da Silva, who died of heart complications, some related to diabetes, had been ill for some time and leaves behind his devoted daughters Donna, Valerie and Cecilia, his adored nieces Bernadine, Presilda, Lucas, Lorna, Francesca, Lorraine, Ulrica, Roselee and Ramona, and three brothers, Santana, Abel and Cajetan. His wife Carmen, who he had met and married in Zanzibar, died of cancer in 1993 and his late beloved brother Rudolph had passed away recently.
Not least, he leaves an island, which is in mourning today for a man universally loved, admired and cherished for his gentle, generous and gregarious soul, his sharp wit, intellectual brilliance and tenacious dedication to the integrity of Zanzibar and its people. All its people. Those from every community he so lovingly sought to be preserved in the intertwined intricacies of their diverse histories.
The historian, artist and family father was Zanzibar’s living memory. And he had indeed a story to tell. Of artistically carved doors of Indian, Persian and Arab origin, of Sultans’ times and merchandise, of Zanzibar’s development over the centuries under the gentle trade winds of the monsoon. Audiences were spellbound when he talked about “The doors of Zanzibar”, “The history of Cosmopolitan Commerce” or “The history of Zanzibar thorough old photos” as some of his lectures were titled. In his later years, when the end of the Cold War in Africa and the world finally enabled him to speak more freely, Da Silva was using his private archives of photos, drawings, street maps, shop signs and files to bring to life chapters of the rich history of Zanzibar, the spice islands off the coast of Tanzania. He presented facts and photos, which might have otherwise been lost forever.
As the main historian of Zanzibar he had witnessed it all: Born in Portuguese Goa on the 24th January, 1937, as the son of Goan immigrants, his family moved to Zanzibar in 1947. His father, a renowned tailor, had been the dressmaker of the island’s ninth sultan, Sayyid Sir Khalifa II bin Harub Al-Said. The Omanis had ruled Zanzibar for two centuries before it became independent. As history has it, John’s father also designed and stitched a dress for Princess Margaret from England during her state visit to Zanzibar in 1954. Often, little John was to make the deliveries of the royal gowns to his father’s clients.
In 1964, when Zanzibar became part of Tanzania after a bloody revolution where many were killed and fled the country, da Silva stayed on initially working for the local registrar. In 1958 he started work in accounting, but his interest in art soon led him to work on the restoration of of the paintings and murals in the Catholic Cathedral of St Joseph. Built by the French about 1898, the Cathedral’s Romanesque style is a replica of the basilica of Notre Dame de La Garde Marseilles.
Although Da Silva’s early paintings featured Zanzibar portraits, the work on the Cathedral stimulated his interest in the architecture of Stone Town. Concerned that there was no documentation of these diverse architectural styles influenced by cultures of the Omani Arabs, Indians, Persians and European colonials, he soon focused his art on the buildings of Stone Town.
Da Silva captured these facades in pen and ink and watercolour as well as with his camera. He leaves a collection of over 300 photos, and in many instances, the only known record of the carved wooden doors, windows, iron lattice work decorating the balconies, alleys, streets, historical and architecturally important buildings of Stone Town.
Over the years he saw the decay of the main island’s historic city centre, a unique collection of 2000 or so elaborate palaces, temples, merchant houses built entirely from coral stone, most of them stemming from the height of Zanzibar’s development in the mid-19th century.
“In 1880, this was one of the richest trade towns in the world after New York, Paris and London; we had a garage for Rolls Royce cars here but only a one-mile-stretch of road”, da Silva used to amuse his listeners in his typical dry humour.
Following the revolution in Zanzibar it was not allowed to photograph Stone Town – yet, although it endangered his freedom, da Silva did. As an historian he felt a personal obligation to document the fate of the islands, which had seen 11 dynasties of Omani rulers in three centuries, before it became a British protectorate in 1890, and where the last Sultan, Bhargash, had built “The House of Wonders”, Africa’s first property with electricity and an elevator south of the Sahara.
John da Silva was intimately connected to the history of the island. Not only in talking but also in doing. He personally re-painted some of the frescos of St. Joseph Cathedral, the centre of Catholic faith on the predominantly Muslim island, and he took part, although not voluntarily, in the building of the so-called German Flats, a present of residential buildings by the former East German Democratic Republic to Zanzibar.
His walking tours became legendary amongst visitors to the island, often undertaken in his later life with the help of a walking stick in searing tropical heat during periods of ill health. Walking with Da Silva, Stone Town became a living museum. He pointed out the details that distinguished the Arab (Swahili) doors from the Indian (Zanzibar has the largest number of carved doors in East Africa): the simplicity of the Arab mosques as compared to the ornate Indian mosques and four Hindu temples: Gothic, Italian and English window styles all in the same building; history learned from change of ownership of buildings as new rulers came to power .
In 1991 the united Republic of Tanzania approved a proposal by Da Silva to dedicate a series of postage stamps to the rich architectural heritage of Stone Town. A unique collection of four stamps was issued featuring his pen and watercolour drawings of the National Museum, The High Court building, the Balnarna Mosque and a Balcony.
Not last with da Silva’s documentation and scholarly assistance Stone Town was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 2000. Experts fear, however, that 80 per cent of the building stock is already beyond repair. The House of Wonders was turned into a Museum in 2002, and is currently under repair after parts of the backside of the historic monument collapsed late last year. John da Silva was furious about this, as he always was when neglect overran conservation.
He was an ardent defender of historical sites appreciating their immeasurable value against all odds. A conservationist of high moral standard, he always pleaded in favour of protecting the cultural sites of Zanzibar in all their variety – but also stressed that he did not want Stone Town to become a museum nor a collection of boutique hotels. Meaningful restoration to him meant authentic, multi-purpose reuse of old structures. The preservation and restoration had to be done without creating a sterile, new environment affordable only to the wealthy and the tourists.
John da Silva loved the island, which was his home and the island loved him. He was one of Zanzibar’s true and rare cosmopolitans. He has lived to tell his story.
His funeral mass will take place today (Thursday 21st March) at 3.30pm at St Joseph's Cathedral, Stone Town followed by his burial at Mwanakwerekwe Cemetery.
ANDREA TAPPER & FRANCESCA MCKENNA
Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF). After the Global Images Meeting in Zanzibar during ZIFF 2012, now watch OUT for the next July 2013 ZIFF/ZUKU events. You are all invited in Zanzibar during ZIFF2013!! Promise a lot of Excitement and New Networking Opportunities!
On 21 Mac 2013, at 14:20, "Mohamed Lodhi" <lodhi@swipnet.se> wrote:Sheikh Mahmoud,Tafadhali msadie rafiki yangu Benny kuweka khabai hizo za John Da Silva kwenye blog yake.I a not familiar with the process.Huyu Benny ni mtoto wa dada yake Bwana Pantu, famliia wenye Africa Bakery Mlango wa chuma, kajificheni.SalaamsMohamedFrom: B DESOUZA [mailto:bennydesouza@btinternet.com]
Sent: den 21 mars 2013 11:02
To: Mohamed Lodhi
Subject: Re: John de SilvaDear MohamedI have received this last night but I cannot connect to the link which I need to do to add to blogspot and also to forward on the website. Can you advise how I capture the link which should open up in any browser. Thanks BennyThanks for the other postings. Big funeral in Zanzibar today 3.30 pm.Will be in touch as I also have to attend a meeting at 12.00 today.Regards Benny
From: Mohamed Lodhi <lodhi@swipnet.se>
To: 'B DESOUZA' <bennydesouza@btinternet.com>
Sent: Thursday, 21 March 2013, 6:55
Subject: FW: John de Silva
DEADLINE LOOMING- 10 DAYS TO GO.
We accept narrative and documentary features and shorts, as well as music videos.You can submit through http://www.ziff.or.tz/submission-information-procedure-0ZIFF is poud of its history as a launchpad for new and independent films.You are our next finding!JOHN DA SILVA IS NO MORE!
JOHN DA SILVAZIFF mourns the passing today of one of Zanzibar's favorite sons- John Da Silva.Awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 by ZIFF the late John Da Silva was lauded for his actvism and care in conservation.John Da Silva was one of the most prolific and acclaimed artists of Zanzibar and Tanzania in general. He was born in Goa and found his love for art when he fell in love with Stone Town. Later he said “I never went to an art class but I just wanted to keep the memory of Zanzibar forever”. Starting with painting and re- the Catholic Cathedral in Zanzibar, he moved on to sketching, drawing and painting the one love of his life- Stone Town. He has immortalized Stone Town through making art lovers encounter the present and the past in his furtive water colours.Ulale Pema Peponi Ndugu yetu John Da Silva.
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