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Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent
One of Bulawayo’s most popular online arts and entertainment platforms, Urban Culxure has rebranded to Culxure Mag in a move that will see their coverage having more positivity as they move in to promote the vibrancy of the city’s arts scene.

Founded in 2014, the portal which celebrated its seventh anniversary on Friday published its first story about Gwanda-based songstress, Kadder on April 16 that year. Since then, they have been consistent with their coverage.

Most will remember Urban Culxure for its controversial lists including the popular Bulawayo Top 100 Most Influential list which divided the city.

Seven years later, the brand which has been curating the most engaging content about the arts in the city has grown tremendously.

Founder of the portal, Kudakwashe Takundwa who calls himself the lover of all things art, said it has been a journey of a thousand miles since he clicked the post button seven years ago.

“As we were celebrating this milestone, we took time to reflect on our journey and decided to turn a new leaf by rebranding to Culxure Mag.

This was derived from how we were known across social media platforms as we were known as Culxure Mag.

“We were known as Urban Culxure, but our social media pages were under the name Culxure Mag Zim. So now, the idea is to have everything under the same name so that people don’t struggle when looking for us,” said Takundwa.

With a team of two people, Takundwa said Culxure Mag is set to be a trendsetter as it grows to create employment.

“We have two people working on the Culxure Mag brand. One is a student on attachment from Nust and myself. It’s our hope that as we start on this rebranded path, we’ll attract funding that can also lead to us having more personnel to help us gather content and also curate some of the work we do,” he said.

The editorial, Takundwa said, will also change as the magazine will get rid of the negativity and run more good stories about the city’s arts scene.

“We’re targeting to become the go-to brand when it comes to contributing a narrative about our arts. The numbers we have on some digital platforms need good stories about the arts hence we’re ready to be a provider.

“As we’ve changed our name, we’ll also be changing a lot on our site including content. Our previous content has had a bit of negativity which we’re getting rid of as we now want to contribute to building a vibrant arts scene,” he said.

Culxure Mag has over the years shown its viability, winning awards, among them the Shoko Festival (The Hub Award) in 2016 and Bulawayo Arts Award (Outstanding Online Media Award in 2017, 2018 and 2019).

Takundwa said the awards have motivated them as they have shown that their works are recognised and appreciated.

In support of the rebranding and seven-year anniversary, Culxure Mag got a huge boost from musician Vusa Mkhaya who gifted them with a smartphone and camera. – @mthabisi_mthire