Zimpapers Logo

Showbiz Reporter

The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) has started rolling out a three-month nationwide “State of the Arts tour” aimed at collecting information on the activities of the different stakeholders in the sector.

The tour commenced last Tuesday at Rimuka Hall in Kadoma and a second meeting was hosted in Marondera, Mashonaland East on Thursday.

During the meetings, artists called for increased capacitation to revamp their activities in the post-Covid-19 period.

NACZ board chairperson Dr Nozipo Maraire said the tour is part of a feedback and communication process with stakeholders in the sector.

“We as the new board of the NACZ want to hear from artists and arts managers, and together, find ways to support our creatives. We look forward to fruitful and interactive discussions,” Maraire said.

Addressing the participants in Kadoma, the deputy chairperson of the NACZ board, Marcus Gora said the main objective of the tour was to find out how stakeholders in the sector were operating.

“We want to know who is in the sector. What do they do? Where do they do it? How do they do it? And what are the challenges that they face? This will then inform our actions as the board to respond to the needs of the sector in whatever we do,” Gora said.

In their submissions, the creatives who included artists, promoters, producers, leaders of arts associations, academics and managers bemoaned the impact of Covid-19 on their operations and called on the NACZ and Government to provide them with  appropriate assistance to re-establish their operations.

The artists said they needed the arts mother body to organise workshops in the provinces and districts to equip practitioners with digital skills in marketing and selling their works online to generate revenue. 

Leader of the Ninga Dzenharira Mbira Group, Lioness Shumbakadzi lamented the paltry registration fees that the NACZ is charging groups, associations and promoters saying this impacts its service delivery.

“We want you to review the registration fees that you have pegged in RTGS. Sadly, artists pay up to US$30 to join associations, and yet the association itself pays less than US$1 to be registered with the arts council. This has to be corrected,” she said.

The participants also called for the establishment of a one-stop shop for government services that artists require for their operations. 

They said there were now too many entities that artists deal with in the simple conduct of their duties.

In response, the board chair said the NACZ is committed to supporting the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) in Zimbabwe and is pushing the sector to the forefront of national prominence.

“We are grateful to artists who give us our pride and identity as Zimbabweans and we look forward to joining them in the different meetings across the country,” Maraire                                                                            said.

She said the “State of the Arts tour” is moving to Bulawayo and Matabeleland North provinces this week. On Wednesday, the NACZ team will be at the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. 

On Thursday, they will travel to Victoria Falls where they will meet artists from Matabeleland North at the Cotton House. 

Those in Masvingo will have their go on April 25. Mtshabezi Building in Gwanda will be the meeting place for those in Matabeleland South on April 26 with those in the Midlands expected to converge at the Gweru Theatre on May 10.