admincontribute to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, arts and cultural experts have said.
This emerged during the two-day
Arts and Culture Dialogue Seminar organised by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe held at Murehwa Culture Centre recently.
The event was held in conjunction with the British Council and the Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust.
Visiting Mozambican academic, Professor Lupwishi Mbuyamba, shared his experiences from various countries within the Sadc region and said it was high time that the various arts and culture sectors in the region lobbied their governments for availing adequate resources and funding.
“It is the creative industries that hold the backbone of most economies, yet most governments have not committed adequate resources to their funding.
“Our organisation is committed
to providing technical support to the various sectors in the region in the lobbying for
the crafting of viable policies aimed at growing creative industries,” Prof Mbuyamba said.
Renowned playwright and art critic, Steven Chifunyise urged arts and culture practitioners to be active in pushing for the adoption of policies that ensure that the arts and culture sectors are not marginalised.
“The sector needs to begin to play an active role in the economy. There is need to acknowledge the development of an arts policy as a process rather than an event and people need to be vigilant in all the processes.
His remarks were echoed by the
principal director in the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture, Reverend Paul Damasane who urged arts and culture practitioners to push for a viable arts and cultural policy that benefited the sector.
“It is important to note that the bureaucratic processes must be followed to ensure the incorporation of your ideas, which noble as they maybe, are insignificant if not shared with key policy makers,” Rev Damasane said.
Another key issue that was brought to the fore during the dialogue was the need to learn from experiences from other parts of the world. National Arts Council of Zimbabwe director, Elvas Mari, applauded the gathering as playing a significant role not only in pushing for acting participation, but also in informing the NACZ on the best way to advance the development of the sector.
Online Reporter