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Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Correspondents
BULAWAYO arts champions, who for years have looked with envy and longing from the discomfort of their sofas as stars, locally and internationally, graced the red carpet on Thursday night showed that glitz and glamour comes naturally to them when they dazzled at the ROIL Bulawayo Arts Awards (RBAAs) nominees dinner.
All roads led to Newton West, as the city’s arts practitioners left the hustle and bustle of the city centre to attend a dinner that seemed tailor-made for high fashion, glitz and glamour.
Starved of red carpet events for most of the year, the city’s artistes came determined to show that their wardrobes contain a few surprises, as they came dressed to the nines for an event that was flawlessly put together by the organisers.
Body hugging outfits and high heels were the order of the day for the ladies while the gentleman dazzled in neat suits. With the fashion police out on the prowl, ready to call out those contravening the laws of high fashion, the dinner served as a perfect appetiser for last night’s RBBAs.
With the scramble to get votes over the last month, the event served as an ice breaker of sorts. As jokes and laughter were shared throughout the evening, the nominees were indeed aware that this was the proverbial calm before the storm.
“The reason why we decided to have this event is because we knew that on Saturday there would be a lot of nerves, a lot of tension,” said one of the organisers, Raisedon Baya, in a speech. “So we decided that we should meet, especially the artistes, when there’s no pressure, mix, mingle and say well done for this year. That’s what we’re here for.”
For Baya and others that pulled off the first award ceremony, the second edition was the culmination of years of trying to turn an unlikely dream into reality.
“We’re here to thank people for making our dream come true. You don’t know how many years we’ve been dreaming of having these awards. Every year we kept on postponing because every year we were not sure of ourselves because of either a lack of resources or because we didn’t know if people would welcome them or not,” Baya said.
The light-hearted spirit of the event was exemplified by the playful yet businesslike approach of event hosts Arthur Evans and Donna N who navigated guests through the night with remarkable aplomb.
The marriage of the arts with the corporate side of Bulawayo was evident, as both sectors were adequately represented. CEOs shared jokes with dancers, marketing gurus took selfies with Imbube singers as the gap between the corporate world and the arts was bridged with smiles and handshakes.
“Being part of the Bulawayo awards last year we decided to take it a step further and we hope that our relationship grows and Bulawayo culture grows as well,” said United Refineries Marketing Manager Dan Blach.
Bongani Ndlovu