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Born next to the Ntuzuma taxi rank opposite St Aidan's hospital at the Warwick Avenue market, Zukiswa Sindiswa Gqwethakazi Vutela was christened with a sentence for names, before being an illegal immigrant in Manzini, Swaziland, where she teethed and blossomed before returning to her hometown in Ntuzuma, Durban. She generally goes by the name Zuki Vutela, but due to dealing with a lot dyslexic individuals and being addressed as Vuki Zutela she decided to quit correcting people and instead go by the name ZooKey thus earning the social title as the Zookeeper. Driven by a strong passion for culture and creative arts, ZOOKEY has worked for over a decade and a half at ensuring that local cultural expression gains international recognition. She has since curated events and festivals both locally and internationally which have facilitated intercultural exchange opportunities, as well as providing creative platform spaces and economic opportunities for established and emerging artists. Not only is ZOOKEY an ambitious career woman, she is a loving mother of two.
ZooKey's common past time is pulling funny faces at taxi drivers whilst pushing her sunglasses above her nose, like the South African president, then pretending she is Michael Schumacher as she drives off. She looks forward to playing for a rock band when she grow's up, until then she will continue banging her drums every evening and innocently smiling and wishing her neighbours a good day, every day!!
On a day to day basis, ZOOKEY will be found hunting down filmmakers, poets and writers. She project manages Durban's key literature festival's since 2007 namely: the Time of the Writer Festival, Poetry Africa Festival as well as the Durban International Film Festival and Jomba! Contemporary Dance festival. Her favorite quotes are: "Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us AND Sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character; sow a character, and you reap a destiny."
Quirky Question
Which song best describes your life and why?
I choose a Medley preferably sung by the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra with Linda Bukhosini & hubby Bongani Tembe as the lead vocalists...the Medley will be a mixture of: India Arie: Beautiful Flower, Frank Sinatra: I did it my way and R Kelly's: I Believe I can Fly...in that order
The reason I choose a medley, is because of my fun-loving and colorful interests and character...like a sweet and sour jelly tot, one is just not enough!
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