Ngoma ni uhuni?: Ngoma za kisasa mjini Zanzibar

This paper is a brief exploration of Zinzibar soceity in contemporary times, of how it can be read through the ngoma perfromances, music events which take place during the focal moments of the social life in the Swahili communities. It is a study of their identity constructions, referring both to ethnic identities and gender ones, which are given meaning through the ngoma performances and can be also discussed or confirmed through them in the social context of the Zanzibari daily life. It mainly analyses the crucial dichotomy culture/religion from the point of view of women perfromers, who are deeply related to the domestic area (and not the public one, usually related to men) in which they can find a way to speak to the community through the perfromance and consequently to get an active role despite their social status. It is also a brief summary of the contemporary socio-political situation of the islands, in which ngoma performances become a way to participate to the social processes and to decode political tensions which characterize Zanzibar today