Bulawayo artists have set up a task force to make sure that the proposed hosting of the 2013 National Arts Merit Awards (NAMAs) in the city takes place.
At a meeting held last week attended by artists and arts administrators from different disciplines, the attendees resolved to make sure that they would put in place the necessary logistics and funding for the awards to take place in Bulawayo. Zimbo Jam also attended the meeting upon invitation.
This development comes after the 2012 NAMA Awards, which had originally been scheduled for Bulawayo were moved on short notice back to the traditional host city, Harare. Amakhosi Theatre had agreed to host the awards in Bulawayo, but cancelled after they failed to secure the resources to make the event happen.
This time artists in Bulawayo want to make sure the awards take place in the city.
According to the National Arts Council, the biggest challenge of hosting the awards ceremony outside Harare is that many of the nominees are normally from the capital, so it would mean transporting and accommodating many more people.
The meeting last week was a follow on from an initial one, held in May and attended by over forty artists and arts administrators, including National Arts Council of Zimbabwe Director and Deputy Director, Mr Elvas Mari and Mr Nicholas Moyo respectively.
The purpose of the original meeting, according to minutes, was to review the awards and hear the views of the stakeholders in Bulawayo.
Funding of the awards and the logistics of hosting them in Bulawayo were some of the things discussed.
In the end the Bulawayo arts community was left with the challenge of coming up with a taskforce which would explore the hosting of the 2013 National Arts Merit Awards in the city.
The meeting last week was the beginning of the fulfillment of that mandate. Selected to the task force were Jomo R. Mhone as co-ordinator and technical liaison, Kudzai Chikomo (Media Liaison), Possenti Sikhosana (Marketing), Cynthia Malaba (Finance), Tafadzwa Matsika (Fundraising), Archie Mhone (Logistics), Desmond Ntini (Catering), Priscilla Sithole-Ncube (Administration) and Raisedon Baya (Administration).
The task force has its first meeting today, July 16, to start the work of making sure that the NAMA Awards don’t just happen in the City of Kings, but happen well. “We want to make sure that we host an event to remember,” Jomo Mhone told participants at the meeting last week.