Arts scene divided?

Bruce Ndlovu Showbiz Correspondent
Last weekend, Jeys Marabini serenaded fans with a top class performance as the curtain came down at the Intwasa Arts Festival.
It was a performance that was a befitting end to the festival which, with clockwork precision, comes around to bid goodbye to winter and welcome summer through song, dance and art.

But, at about the same time, this time in the country’s capital, local hip hop artiste Tehn Diamond was giving a similarly compelling performance as he looked to outshine one of Africa’s best in hip hop, Hip Hop Pantsula (HHP) at the Shoko Festival.

There is nothing amiss about two artistes performing in the country’s two largest cities. The Intwasa arts festival is billed as an arts fair under whose umbrella all forms of excellent artistic expression are welcomed, while Shoko Festival is targeted at urban music artforms. If the Zimbabwe arts scene was seen as an eco-system, the two have to be taken as totally different animals occupying two different spots on the food chain with neither threatening the continued survival of the other.

What, however, was worrying was how both festivals took place seemingly oblivious of the other. This year’s edition of the Shoko Festival seemed to have had more star power, pulling such esteemed artistes as HHP and the Emmy Award nominated Loyiso Gola and Chester Missing. The Intwasa arts fair did not pull such illustrious rabbits out of its magic hat, instead relying on excellent, mainly local Zimbabwean acts to bring life to its stages. However, one wonders how such two big festivals were both scheduled at the same time in the year, despite being staged in two cities and seemingly targeted at different audiences.

Events last week lead one to question whether the arts scene in the country is unified as one or divided into two. Does what happen on Harare’s stages matter to those in Bulawayo and vice versa? The organisers of the two festivals did not think so, as it is reckoned that neither of the two extravaganzas would steal an audience from the other.

In an ideal situation, a festival like Intwasa, the premier event of its kind in Bulawayo’s arts calendar, would be considered a national event drawing attention from all corners of the country. However, while Intwasa’s flame was shining in the City of Kings, the Shoko Festival was also dazzling audiences in the capital. On one hand, this could be seen as a buffet of artistic excellence for arts enthusiasts to feast according to their personal choice, however on the other, one can’t also help but question whether the arts scene could not benefit from a more unified focus. Marabini believes that this is the case. He also believes that artistes in Bulawayo and Harare are living virtually in two countries as they rarely get to mingle as one. While national galas usually bring musicians together, the events are too far apart to be of significance, leading artistes from both cities to be alienated from each other, often splitting in the middle.

Marabini says the artistes themselves are reluctant to come together, and points to the lack of collaborations between artistes from the two cities as evidence of lack of unity.

“Even among ourselves as artistes, you can see that the spirit of collaboration is almost non-existent. We rarely come together for anything and that is what worries me the most,” he said.

While the country’s artistes collectively fall beneath the guardianship of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ), a natural partition seems to have happened.

Marabini feels that this division has even poisoned the minds of fans who adopt a hostile attitude to artistes from either city. According to Marabini, his own nomination for the National Arts Merit Awards in previous years was greeted with disapproval by fans in the capital because they were not familiar with his music. He believes this is the reason why national award nominees from the city come off as token gestures, rather than genuine appreciation of artiste’s craft.

“In previous years, fans have complained about my nomination because they said they did not know me and my music at all. That is not their fault because they are not exposed to it and sometimes organisers of award shows just nominate someone who they don’t know just to make sure that this region is represented.

“I don’t know what the solution to all these things is, but we need to bring our heads together and find it,” he said.

In a move to ensure that big events do not clash, the NACZ has said they will soon regulate local shows to avoid unnecessary clashes.

NACZ director Elvas Mari said the council would monitor promoters’ activities to protect interests of the greater arts industry.

“Previously the rule was that there can only be one international show every month but now we have noted with concern that even local shows need to be regulated,” Mari told our Harare Bureau.

“Some 10 or so years ago, we never used to have several shows lined up for the same weekend and competing for the same crowd, but now that is fast becoming the order of the day and we need to move in and bring sanity.”

The Harare International Festival of the Arts (Hifa) and the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair held in Bulawayo always used to clash till the two parties agreed to hold their functions on different days so as to enable people to attend both.

While Tehn Diamond thrilled fans with tongue twisting style on the mic, Marabini captured the imagination of Bulawayo with the power of his guitar. All indications are that music lovers went home satisfied with the performance they got from either artiste.

However, one wonders what would happen if the artistic excellence of both artistes were harnessed for one event. Under the current status quo, only the fans and arts lovers are the losers.