ARTS FOCUS: HOMECOMING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK

Raisedon Baya
TODAY is Sunday, 27 December 2015. It is the second day after Christmas. Another dull and uneventful Christmas; for those not truly religious nothing really happened on Christmas except the now boring and meaningless ritual of cooking expensive meals many of us really cannot afford, shutting our eyes to the future, to reality and pretending all is well. Pretending that we are all happy and merry. I think Shakespeare was very right in saying the world is but a stage — a stage where we have all become nothing but good actors, great pretenders.

Today is also Kalawa day. The young and hippy will be having the time of their life tonight. Like fish many will be swimming in beer before heading to Queens Ground for Kalawa. Excitement is in the air. Why not? The young should be excited. Their favourite South African music stars are in town, ready to rock them. Without any doubt today is the biggest “homecoming” event in the arts, particularly here in Bulawayo.

Oscar Mdlongwa aka Oskido’s homecoming is probably the biggest music event Bulawayo will ever see this year. It was the event of the year last year, winning X-Mo Squad a Nama award for the promoter of the year. One thing for sure is that tomorrow morning, after the show, Oskido and his band of South African friends will be smiling and singing all the way to the bank or is it all the way to the South African border with bags full of dollars — not Rands.

Of course tonight’s show is huge — gigantic. The line-up itself is very impressive — a dream line-up. It has two of South Africa’s leading hip-hop stars in AKA and Cassper Nyovest, crowd pullers in their own right. It has one of the most versatile musical duos in Mafikizolo.

Also featuring tonight are the talents of DJ Fresh and DJ Tira. We are talking top DJs here, top talents. You will notice that I haven’t mentioned local artistes. It is deliberate. I truly believe this show was and will never be about local artistes and their growth.

This homecoming show is and has always been about Oskido, his music and South African artistes’ friends. It is a business venture that unfortunately feeds on Bulawayo’s lack of support for its own sons and daughters in the arts, a denial of their own culture and arts in preference of foreign things.

Let me state categorically that there is nothing wrong with any artiste finding a new market and exploiting it — like what Oskido has done. This is a free world, a free market economy. So we are told. Everyone has a right to make money lawfully and fairly in this country.

My only problem with Kalawa is the way they do things, especially their colonial master attitude of coming to Bulawayo and pretending they are the best thing to happen to the local arts scene since the discovery of microphones.

The way Kalawa does things here no Zimbabwean artiste, even Oliver Mtukudzi himself, would be allowed to do the same in South Africa. My hope is that tonight’s event will be done differently, with respect to Zimbabweans and Zimbabwean laws.

First, my hope is that ushers, bouncers, cashiers and backstage personnel for tonight’s event are not coming from South Africa as in previous Kalawa gigs. I strongly believe these should be sourced locally. I am also hoping that local artistes that have been engaged to perform tonight are not part of the show for mere political expedience but that they will show up, give their best and be properly paid for their sweat.

I couldn’t help but notice, with some serious sadness of course, that some local companies jumped on board to support Kalawa. There is nothing wrong with local corporates supporting arts events. But I can’t explain the pain of seeing the very companies that shy away from local events scrambling to be part of an event whose main aim has never been to market Bulawayo or Zimbabwe but to continue the cultural imperialism that has always sought to alienate our people with local arts and culture.

The pain I feel today is the same as the one a child feels when he sees his own father paying fees for a neighbour’s child because he feels the neighbour’s child is more intelligent. A father’s first priority should be his son, regardless of the son’s talents or aptitude. It should be the same with local companies. They should support local artistes and events first.

Local artistes need to be protected against unfair competition. They need to be supported by Government; the corporate world and local people or else they will always play second fiddle to other artistes in their own country. Just food for thought as we end a difficult year for many artistes and Zimbabweans alike.

We conclude this week’s article by wishing our dear readers a happy and prosperous 2016.