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Showbiz Editor
In celebration of Women’s month, murals of various female personalities from Bulawayo are being painted on some walls around the city.

The idea is to give out positive messages while also cementing the city’s icons and beautifying the city.

As part of the Hanzvadzi Umnawami (#GirlPowerZW) project that is being run by CaliGraph – a marketing and advertising company, the murals are being painted in public spaces so as to promote dialogue and conversations on sex education, positive affirmations, girl child empowerment and celebrating women within the communities of Harare, Bulawayo and Chitungwiza. In Bulawayo, personalities – broadcaster Soneni Gwizi; musicians Sandra Ndebele, Berita Khumalo and Busi Ncube; and actresses Sarah Mpofu-Sibanda and Mbo Mahocs as well as ZITF marketing and corporate communications manager, Stella Nkomo have been painted thus far.

Very good initiative it would seem, but, not everyone is pleased if the dialogue in the past hours is anything to go by. Some people, including artistes have been questioning the criteria used in the selection of personalities. Others went as far as suggesting that only those based in Bulawayo should have been considered.

This came about after South Africa-based Khumalo’s mural that has been drawn on a wall in Lobengula suburb was posted by arts enthusiast Kudakwashe Takundwa on Monday on his Facebook page. “Why don’t you paint local artists who are here in Bulawayo? You want them to be signed by Kalawa Jazmee records first for you to recognise them,” quizzed one person paving the way for others to express their thoughts.

“Very good question. Let them explain their criteria. We have the likes of Sthandazile Dube, Nkwali, Lorrin from Umkhathi Theatre Works and Novuyo SeaGirl, the list is endless,” responded one. Musician, Mdu Sevan chipped into the conversation and also suggested that locally based artistes were meant to have been used citing the need to uplift them before they make it out of the city. He went on to give names of those he felt should have been included in this project.

“OQeqe, Vuyo Brown, Lee Mchoney, Sthandazile Dube and Thandi Dlana etc yibo okumele bebe la. Who’s going to celebrate them or ya’ll waiting for them to migrate,” commented the artiste. Some responded to him saying Bulawayo is a big city with many walls so the artistes he was clamouring for would likely be painted as the project progresses. Mdu Sevan then said it was not an issue of them not being painted per se, but priority.

“It seems like it’s a norm to first sideline those doing well locally. . . It’s really a good thing (CaliGraph project), but I think anyone who makes it somewhere else will suddenly become a goddess,” responded Mdu Sevan.

Responding to those who said only locally-based personalities should have been roped in, a saddened SA-based Mbo Mahocs who was featured on the project said it was disheartening how people were misinterpreting the project.

“It’s so sad and heartbreaking that we don’t see the bigger picture. We’re missing the detail and message in between. Those murals aren’t oriented for self-glorification. It has absolutely nothing to do with individuals.

“The idea is to encourage and inspire young girls to achieve their full potential towards empowered womanhood. That you can rise from anywhere, regardless of your circumstances. ‘Disability enAbility’ for example, hence Soneni Gwizi who has stood and represented rights for that,” wrote Mbo.

She went on to say by featuring on the project, she now has an urge to do more for the city. “As an individual on that mural, I’m fuelled to want to even do more and better. Not just for myself, but for my city. I’m encouraged to push harder which is made possible through support,” she said.

The actress went on to advise people from the city to desist from rubbishing new concepts as that will affect the local arts scene. “Crippling ideas before they’re even birthed will take us nowhere. We’ll continue toiling in redundancy and misdirected anger and not be progressive,” said Mbo.

In support of Mbo, Austria-based musician, Vusa Mkhaya who was also disheartened said: “There’re people who wait for others to do something and then come and criticise without any background knowledge. When we did the Masiyephambili song (a collaboration that featured several artistes from Bulawayo), some people claimed I was given money for it and shut them out. I was then coached on how to do it ‘proper’ next time and who I was supposed to have included,” wrote Mkhaya.

Also concurring with Mbo was arts personality, Gilmore Tee who said: “The sad thing about some of the comments is that while others make efforts to celebrate women as a whole by selecting representatives, others are finding faults instead of being challenged to do the same.

To be honest, I think that if you see a problem with other people’s positive efforts, be the solution, do something about it! My understanding is that the project is ongoing and more murals of women will be unveiled in the month of March!” Explaining the concept behind the murals, Marcus Zvinavashe, one of the founding members of CaliGraph said for the Bulawayo phase, murals of eight living female icons were being designed to celebrate and also have the icons share positive messages to youngsters who look up to them. On the selection criteria, he said they chose women who have been part of Bulawayo’s cultural and arts scene for most of their lives.

“March is Women’s Month and us being in Bulawayo, we acknowledge the efforts and strides that women in arts, culture, sports and business, have made in Bulawayo and Zimbabwe as a whole. Our approach for Bulawayo was to identify eight women that have made a name for themselves in their respective fields, whom we would paint in different locations in Bulawayo.

“For us, it’s important to celebrate them while they are still alive and also have them share messages that will encourage a young person who looks up to, or might have heard of them,” explained Zvinavashe.