adminWalter Nyamukondiwa in HURUNGWE
Artists from across the country and genres converged in Karoi for this year’s edition of the Hurungwe Arts Festival where fledgling and established performers showcased their talent. Running under the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe adopted theme “Stop Road Carnage, Eradicate Human Error” the festival saw a convergence of drama, traditional dance and poetry among other forms of art.
The poetry slam saw poets Tendai Maduwa, Tinashe Muchuri, Mafume Mutasa, Chenjerai Mazambani and Nqobile Malinga taking turns to show their prowess.
At least six school took turns to recite theme inspired poems and drama performances.
Harare based poet Tendai Maduwa hailed the festival as a good launchpad for budding artists.
“This is a very good platform for the artists that came through. There is room for improvement but overally it is a good opportunity for the spread of art in the community,” he said.
In the traditional dance category Pezhube Cultural Ensemble from Hwange also showcased their unique dances.
Festival coordinator Mr Joel Zilala said the festival had managed to bring together artists from across the country to compare notes on their art forms.
He said the festival should birth other routine activities to keep artists active throughout the year.
“We have had poetry slams coming out of major festivals which have kept artists going through out the year,” he said.
Sponsors TSCZ director responsible for operations, research and marketing Proctor Utete hailed the event as having potential to spread the message against road carnage and influence behaviour change amongst motorists.
National Arts Council Hurungwe district arts and culture promotions officer Noboth Jembere said the festival has great potential to grow into an international festival with better support from sponsors.
“The festival which is in its third edition is growing and there is great potential for growth. The greatest undoing has been the lack of funding,” said Jembere.
The festival was held over one-day at two venues owing to lack funds to do in the scheduled two days.
Activities were held at Karoi Hotel and Chikangwe Community Hall.
Online Reporter