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Sunday Leisure Reporter
THE Bulawayo City Council has given thumbs up to a cultural and fundraising concept presented by Bulawayo’s arts association Nhimbe Trust which has seen 1 June declared Bulawayo Day.
The council’s Director of Housing and Community Services, Dictor Khumalo, in a statement to Nhimbe Trust, added that council has also declared 2 to 5 June of every year to be an Arts Festival Week.
“Consequently council now needs a draft road map to follow which we need to develop and finalise through a stakeholder’s meeting, then inform council of the final draft . . . It is our hope that we shall have a long and fruitful relationship in this journey for the betterment of cultural activities in our city.”
Nhimbe Trust early this year joined hands with Bulawayo Cultural Affairs Office to lobby 1 June as the day of Bulawayo. The date was when the city attained its status from a municipal status. The city then celebrated 125 years this year.
Nhimbe Trust executive director Josh Nyapimbi, in an interview soon after putting forward the proposal, described the Bulawayo Day as “a day to promote everything ‘Bulawayoan’, of celebrating the diversity of local cultural expressions and heritage.”
“This will keep Bulawayo’s cultural palette alive and vibrant in the region with the proposed annual celebration on the first day of June, starting from 2020. It goes without saying that all artistes working in Bulawayo would welcome such an annual celebration that is an acknowledgement of their contribution to both socio-economic development and the diversity of cultural expressions. Against a backdrop of economic turbulence, Nhimbe Trust is working to consult and engage with artistes and other stakeholders, both local and abroad, for valuable engagement and direction on collaborative efforts that can be pursued to support sustainable livelihoods of artistes and cultural professionals under decent work conditions that favour equity, social security and sector resilience,” added Nyapimbi.
derick.khumalo