Bulawayo City Council reiterates commitment to supporting local creatives

IN the wake of visual artists expressing concerns over being “omitted” from the recently held Bulawayo Arts Festival (BAF), Bulawayo City Council (BCC)’s corporate communications manager, Nesisa Mpofu, has reiterated the BCC’s commitment to supporting artists in the city. Mpofu said this in an interview on the sidelines of the “Exploring the New Reality” group art exhibition held at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo last week.

She said art has never been an afterthought to the BCC.

“As BCC, we pride ourselves in supporting arts in Bulawayo. This is evidenced in us building youth centres dotted around the city where different art disciplines are practiced.

“Through the Arts, Culture and Heritage Office, our doors are open for engagement with artists and they should feel free to engage and collaborate with us,” she said.

In her address during the exhibition, Mpofu said: “Bulawayo is awash with visual talent and we (BCC) are glad to be working closely with creatives. We live in a world where technological advancement rules the roost. As we speak, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken over how we do our work. We need to embrace new realities and take advantage of its benefits.

“We need to make sure that our visual works are visible beyond our borders. People in Europe should be able to enjoy our exhibitions virtually. Our exhibitions need to be marketable online without one needing to visit a physical gallery to see them,” she said.
She ended her speech by advising artists to embrace new reality objectively, not forgetting what matters the most.

“If we allow ourselves, we can totally get lost in the virtual worlds on offer to us. However, we must remember that the new reality is irrevocably tethered to the objective reality. As we explore the new virtual world, we keep our feet firmly rooted in the real world. We do this by holding firm to the absolute truths that we have known all our lives,” she said.

At the group art exhibition, lovers of visual art toured the gallery and viewed artworks from Talent Kapadza, Sipho Ncube, Bhekimpilo Mafohla, and Dumisani Mafohla, among other talented individuals. In attendance was the “Heita!” singer, Msiz’kay who preached interdisciplinary support.

“I’m here to support my guy Sipho Ncube. It’s always good to support each other irrespective of the art forms. I make it a point to support fellow creative minds,” he said.

Sipho Ncube commended BCC for the invitation for collaboration.

“Hearing that the city council wants to collaborate with us is a welcome development because it shows that the city recognises our importance in the CCIs. However, I think much should be done to cater for wheelchair-bound personnel. Most of the facilities around the city aren’t wheelchair friendly,” he said.

The group exhibition buttressed the idea of art galleries being the sacred sanctuaries of any nation’s soul, where the creative pulse of a country’s culture is put on vibrant display. — @MbuleloMpofu