National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) what did you just do to us?

Was that a celebration or a funeral?

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The nation gave you a standing ovation when you hosted the blissful 19th edition of the National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) earlier in the year with many certain that the much anticipated change had finally come but alas, it is not the case. 

On Saturday you disappointed us and cast a bad image on the performing arts fraternity by staging a dismal show.

It started with the poster for the Culture Week national launch, it was ugly and that was telling of what was coming and indeed you delivered hogwash. 

What happened to consulting the young fresh minds you worked with on the NAMA’s – aren’t they just a phone call away?

Last night you made culture equate to boring, hence why a lot of youngsters will shun who they are because it is not packaged in a cool way. 

There was clear evidence yesterday that minds in the system are still to catchup with where everyone else in the global creative and cultural industry is headed towards.

All you had to do was to understand what is trending now and merge it with our roots. Remember culture evolves. By merging the modern and the past and the result would have been a sweet celebration of our tangible and intangible cultural heritage. 

When Winky D popped up in the Money Hesit outfit for a performance two weeks ago he was showing us he knew the trends. Whilst his set was the usual thing,  he made us think it was extra because of that switch in attire. 

That’s all you needed to do on Saturday, a simple shift and you would have gotten away with murder but it seems you people do not understand the game at all. 

Here is what we think could have been done better to improve the gig.

Creative directing

This has been lacking at most shows in Zimbabwe so it is not your disease alone. It is an endemic within the sector. This is why Hifa is special. 

Hifa organisers understand how to combine elements together to speak to a particular theme. 

What was the theme for the culture week? That is what you should have thought of and used as a guide as you planned the gig and even selected artists. 

This would have helped you to come up with a culturally eclectic list of acts.

Imagine this, when Guspy Warrior was performing you could have simply released some traditional dancers and merge the current dancehall culture and our dances. But here we make it seem as if culture is all about music only.

What’s the point of having a big stage with no fire or numerous LED screens as well as good lighting? You might as well just have asked the Nash Paints team to use their stage that is already set at ZBC.

In future get reputable companies to do stage, sound and lighting.

Culture is not locked in the old guard 

In as much as the old school folks have the magic please lets not pretend as though there is no development in the grassroots. We will be blunt on this one, Jayz Marabini is not the epitome of music in Bulawayo. 

It is now predictable, whenever national events are staged especially involving you as the NACZ he is always there, representing our sisters and brothers from the royal lands. 

Wake up! 

We now have amazing youngsters who deserve a chance. On that note, go and check out Ngoma Ingoma. 

Another scenario, if you had selected Djembe Monks you could again have made them collaborate with poets and painters similar to what you did at the NAMA’s when the poets were dazzling the crowd and the painter was working on a portrait of Samanyanga.

 

ZBC is no longer the major player in broadcasting

You were using only two platforms for your online broadcasting, why? Nowadays one can broadcast on several other platforms via cross posting. 

Whilst you love them so much because they reach more homes via their analog system, they cut you off at 12.12 am because you had gone beyond your time.

But, if you had other partners, they could have probably been flexible and continued with the stream not this abrupt cut off we got only to be plunged into a Death Race. Talk about celebrating culture, had it been Cook Off it was going to be better. 

Going Forward 

Don’t make it seem as if you are rushed to host events. How can artists come with a whole band to sing two songs? 

That is why there is need to develop creative directors in the country. If it means making this a course you lobby to be offered at tertiary institutions please do so and let’s get our act together. 

Consider what others are doing out there for we are not in a vacuum. When the Global Citizens Festival was held in South Africa two years ago, a number of acts performed but they did not do two songs each, it does not make sense. 

Always remember when you fail the sector shakes and it has been shaking for too long now, it is time we start a revolution towards the right direction. With the limited resources we have we can start making baby steps towards catching up with the rest of the world.