Nhimbe Trust continues to shine a light on how a vibrant arts sector can exist in a troubled economy. As other organisations shut their doors, the trust has been courageous enough to open a new hub for the arts in Bulawayo.
The new creative platform, the Bluez Café was officially opened on Africa Day last week with a line up of performances by over 40 top artists.
“Building on the legacy of Bulawayo’s rich cultural tapestry, and in partnership with artists and other cultural partners, Bluez Cafe has now started on the road to create a vibrant and multi-dimensional cultural hub in the centre of Bulawayo, a space for artists and arts practitioners – a space to create, a space for free expression of cultural identity; a space of tolerance, inclusion, unity, respect, dialogue and compassion,” read a statement from the managers of the hub.
The launch was attended a rich mix of close to 200 artists, leading cultural personalities from Bulawayo, Harare and other centres, representatives of the National Arts Council, board members of Nhimbe Trust and the Youth Contact Centre (YCC).
“This long-time vision of Nhimbe Trust was shared by Bulawayo artists at a consultative meeting on April 6. The initiative will help to meet some of the needs of Bulawayo artists of all disciplines; music, spoken-word, literary, visual and fine artists, film, drama, dance and craftspeople – by providing spaces for meetings, workshops, access to rehearsal facilities, performance platforms, and programmes for the development of the arts. The ‘creative space’ will also provide a point of intersection between the arts and civil society, with spaces for meetings, discussions and workshops,” said Bluez Café, public relations and marketing head, Penny Yon.
Renovations and refurbishment are in progress, and programmes will start to unfold in stages, from June.
Bjorn Maes, programme manager, Africalia, Belgium, an NGO that supports arts and culture in several African countries had this to say about the opening of the new hub, “Africalia have been a partner of Nhimbe Trust in Bulawayo for the past 10 years, and we have done some amazing stuff together, seen each other grow, and we are happy to still be involved with the trust.
“I congratulate the team on the opening of Bluez Cafe on this beautiful day. In the course of my experience of working with cultural development we’ve learned that venues, arts festivals and youth centres involved in the arts are very important for the development of arts in a country, very important to create opportunities for young people.”
Maes added that he was happy that Nhimbe partnered with YCC in developing this project.
“I am very excited that Nhimbe have partnered with YCC to make the Bluez Cafe a reality as of today. I am looking forward to the future of this exciting new venue. I’m sure there’s a lot of talent that will be involved in this venture, come to this place and make it their home. I wish you all the very best, and thank everyone that’s been involved in making this a reality,” continued Maes.
