‘Decentralise Nama’

meeting to review Nama at Courtauld Hall in Mutare last week.
The event was attended by various artistes including prominent musicians Hosiah Chipanga and Blessing Shumba as well as dance, theatre, visual arts and literary arts practitioners, among others.
“Awarding artistes should start at provincial level. This method will not only make Nama appealing at grassroots level but will also recognise artistes in the remoter parts of the country,” Lucky Saungweme said.
Previous Nama award-winning musician, Chipanga expressed satisfaction at the way that Nama was currently being run, urging artistes to use it as a springboard for better things to come.
“I think the value of Nama is not in monetary rewards but in the awarding of certificates since these will be used as as passport to boost their marketability for several years to come both in Zimbabwe and abroad.
“Nomination alone raises an individual artiste’s profile adding value to his work. As such, artistes are not supposed to look for monetary rewards during the event itself but rather after since being nominated increases the value of their artistic work and by extension their charges,” Chipanga said.
He added that he was happy with the period during which artistes were given to submit their works.
“On opening and closing dates for submissions of art works, we are happy that the organisers are giving us ample time to do so.  I strongly feel there is no need to review it,” he said.
The artistes also agreed that actual dates for the Nama ceremony — the third weekend of February —was convenient for them since it fell during a “quiet time” in their schedules.
Another Nama award winner, gospel musician Shumba, called for the introduction of a separate category for choral groups and female musicians.
“Choral musicians should not be grouped together with apostolic singers since choral music is different.
“I also feel than Nama should have an Outstanding Female Musician and an Outstanding Female Album to cater specifically for women artistes whom I feel are at a disadvantage compared to their male counterparts.
“For instance, over the years, males have dominated the Outstanding Musician Award. I think there is need to stimulate artistic excellence among women by creating gender-specific awards for them,” Shumba said.
But the chairman of Manicaland Visual Arts and Craft Association, David Chimuka, disagreed insisting male and female artistes should compete at an equal footing.
“Zahara, the popular South African musician, collected several accolades during the South African Music Awards despite competing with men.
“There is also need for a proper dress code to raise the standards of the Nama event,” he argued.
The executive director of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe Elvas Mari, responded to calls by some artistes that Manicaland province be given the opportunity to host Nama, saying this was possible as long as the various stakeholders in the province mobilised resources for the successful hosting of the event.
“Manicaland is endowed with vast mineral resources and big companies, if approached, can be persuaded to bankroll the event,” Mari said.
Stephen Chikozho, the communications and marketing manager of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, said the organisation valued the atistes’ contributions, adding this would go a long way into turning Nama into the brand that they hoped for.
“It is hoped that when artistes’ contributions from various provinces are collated into one research document, the Nama consultation process should give birth to a critical review process that will help the awards achieve their full potential and make solid benefits to Zimbabwean society,” he said.
Added Chikozho: “The Nama awards are aimed at inspiring Zimbabwean artistes to strive for higher and original forms of artistic achievement through creativity and excellence.
“The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe is currently engaged in a process of improving the national awards through engaging different stakeholders across the country.”
The Mutare meeting brought together artistes from Manicaland, Mashonaland East and Masvingo provinces.
This was the third in a series of meetings that have so far covered Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West provinces as well as Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Midlands provinces. The meetings were held in Harare and Bulawayo respectively.
Since its inception 11 years ago, Nama has been rewarding outstanding artistes in various disciplines as it seeks to promote excellence among artistes.
However, stakeholders and players feel the time has come to rebrand Nama.