Deadline for Pumula awards nears

ORGANISERS of the forthcoming Pumula Royal Arts and Community Awards (Praca) have revealed that over 80 submissions have been received.

The awards, in their fourth edition are set to be held from December 14 to 16, and will see artistes, performers, writers, community leaders, individuals and organisations that are making a positive impact in the Pumula community being awarded.

The submission period, which opened on September 15 for works produced between July 31, 2022, and August 10, 2023, is set to close on Sunday.
This year’s edition has 50 categories after organisers included five more.

In a bid to grow the brand of the awards, Praca founder Happy Mpofu said they have partnered with arts organisation, Yellow World, for the hosting of the event.

“We’re still engaging professional people in the arts industry to partake in the adjudication process. We’ll also engage the youth ministry and the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe so that they guide the whole process to ensure that everything is fair and transparent,” Mpofu said.

The first day of awards, Mpofu said, will see them host a charity fun run, festival and a road show.

“We’ll work with Yellow World who’ll implement the Bulawayo Key to the Art Festival. On the second day, we’ll have a film screening accompanied by a dinner for the nominees and stakeholders. The third day is when we’ll host the awards ceremony,” said Mpofu. —@mthabisi_mthire