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Tafadzwa Zimoyo Senior Arts Reporter
Organisers of this year’s edition of the Bulawayo Arts Festival (BAF) 2021, which will be held in the first week of June, will announce the line-up of performers from various parts of the country this week.
The organisers said preparations for the festival were at an advanced stage as they have started with scouting for new talent in some of parts of Zimbabwe, which include Mutare, Plumtree, Gwanda and Victoria Falls.
The team was looking for artists to participate in the second edition of the vibrant young festival from June 2 to 5, a hybrid ‘virtually-physical’ production for artists and audiences in and beyond Bulawayo.
Live Covid-19 compliant physical performances in ‘the City of Kings’ by the artists will be complemented by virtual performances of artists from some of the remote areas, offered to the world via the internet.
BAF and artists in Bulawayo have pulled through an extraordinary year with strong resilience and continued creativity, as is expected of them, to present a vibrant presentation of the arts in the face of the seemingly never-ending pandemic.
In a clever twist to work within the Covid-19 restrictions, the tour is bringing audiences and artists together in a whole new way.
With the good cooperation of the National Arts Council offices around the country who identified some of the artists, and support from various government ministry representatives, the BAF team will later capture lively acts in the small towns, all but hidden until now, confined by the pandemic.
Some of the acts will be invited to the festival in Bulawayo.
The inclusion of this raw talent – alongside the rainbow of urban music, dance, theatre, comedy, poetry, visual arts, photography and fashion – will grow the festival in diversity, progressiveness and inclusivity, and provide the world audience with a fascinating and authentic menu to feast on.
It is a brave step for BAF and others in this brave new world of the survival of culture online.
Online Reporter