admin
Stephen Chifunyise Theatre Corridors
The active discourse about the 13th Edition of the National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) which has been effectively covered by our print, electronic and social media since February 16 – a day after the awards ceremony, is such a vital facilitator of growth and development in our creative industry.
Stakeholders in the creative industry must be grateful for the effective coverage by the media of this essential discourse as well as being grateful to some of their colleagues who decided to ask vital questions about the procedure of choosing the winner and what it is the adjudicators were looking for.
The many different views and opinions on who should have been recognised as the most outstanding artists or groups in the year 2013 should be taken on board as critical and valuable expressions of the people’s appreciation of the value of NAMA and its role in the promotion of artistic creators and the recognition of their contribution to the advancing of imaginative, creative, performance and presentation skills that are essential in the production and distribution of viable and wanted cultural goods and services.
This discourse about NAMA greatly emphasizes the fact that all artists as creators of the huge diversity of cultural expressions in our nation are important and appreciate being recognised not only for contributing to the growth and development of the different creative industries but also for having put extra –ordinary efforts to produce the required cultural goods and services of the highest quality and value .
Given such attitudes among artists ,any attempt at singling out individual creators as outstanding achievers cannot avoid falling into the deep and wide pit created by the diversity of value judgements that are driven by personal preferences, professional and cultural orientations, varied appreciation of aesthetics and function of art of those appointed to adjudicate cultural products and personalities of competing creators.
It therefore means that there is need for a constant review of the criteria of measuring the state of being outstanding and the choice of those who are expected to rationally decide on this quality of products and creators.
For NAMA, it has always been understood by artists that those who did not nominate themselves or were not nominated by others and those who did not submit samples or video evidence of themselves or their works were not expected to consider themselves as contenders for receiving the awards of being outstanding in their artistic discipline during the concerned year.
This then meant that award winners were the most outstanding of those who entered the contest and that there were thousands of artists in the same discipline who could not satisfy the conditions for being nominated or who did not find it essential to contest for such recognition and yet they recognised significantly the NAMA as an very important tool in raising the status of the arts sector and giving the nation an opportunity to recognise the contributions of artists to its cultural, social and economic development.
It is critical therefore that the importance of NAMA to the creative sector can never be doubted and that whatever short comings in the adjudication or the process of selecting the most outstanding creators should not be allowed to undermine the essential value of an evening of recognising the creators of the creative economy and their innovations which drive our nation’s creativity forward.
The community of artists are obviously grateful for space provided by the media to articulate their concerns, comments and recommendations on areas of the NAMA that could be reviewed and improved to meet the objectives of the awards.
Most welcome are the comments or observations of arts journalists who are essential critics that not only comment of the award winners but also on the nature of the award ceremony and all those attended it.
These observations are building bricks in the development of viable creative industries.
There is no reason why the board of the National Arts Council cannot consider comments and observation which are in themselves an instant evaluation of the significance of the NAMA and the presentation of these recognition awards.
In the theatre sector, for example ,there has been expressed a view that it does not make that the director of the outstanding theatrical production does not command the award for outstanding director.
This view has been extended to imply that some theatre practitioners believe that the two are awards are one and the same thing. Such comments may have been consistently raised due the lack of clarity on what the adjudicators look for when they are considering the best theatrical production and the best director.
It is necessary for stakeholders in the theatre sector to continue to dialogue among themselves on how best to recognise outstanding theatre works and thespians and to present the National Arts Council Board their views or recommendations.
In many respects the NAMA is Zimbabwe’s effective means of implementing the 2005 Convention on the Promotion and Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions .
It is therefore important that other ways of recognising outstanding creators in other artistic disciplines be found just as the search for other categories of creators continues so as to ensure that the nation recognises fully its rich cultural diversity and takes cognisance of the existence of communities of creators in many parts of the country other than of Harare and Bulawayo.
When the distinguished NAMA guest ,Dorothy Masuku, spoke to the distinguished gathering of artists, sponsors and the government ministers, she in fact addressed the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Andrew Langa about the shortcomings and limitations of the NAMA in recognising those who have contributed to the growth and popularity of Zimbabwe’s performing arts.
The distinguished veteran performer and composer mentioned names of artists who have long departed and who cannot be accommodated by the NAMA but whom the nation has to recognise.
In the field of theatre one can mention such names as Simon Shumba (Mutirowafanza), Bertha Msora, Walter Mparutsa, Godwin Mawuru, Basil Chidyamatamba, Safirio Madzikatire, Adrian Stanley, Simon Banda, Mackay Tickeys, Phillip Mushangwe(Paraffin), Mthandazo Ndema Ngwenya just to name a few. Surely there must be other ways than NAMA of recognising these outstanding thespians who have departed and in many cases who were pioneers and heroes of the Zimbabwean theatre.
The fact that the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe managed to secure sponsorship from more than 30 companies, government departments, funding agencies, organisations and individuals who provided cash prizes, fees for performers who provided entertainment, valuable electronic products to winners and funds to meet the cost of putting together the award ceremony including its live broadcast, is clearly an indication of how our nation values the NAMA and the opportunity to recognise our artists.
It is a pity that this generous sponsorship which is vital for development of a creative industries may not noted in the discourse that may be dominated by views on who the winners of the awards and the nature of the award ceremony itself.
This week our feature network is the Arterial Network which a non profit organisation and “a vehicle of cultural exchange and creative change-an advocacy space, a think tank, a networking platform and a policy making space for the arts .”
Formed in 2007 by 50 delegates from 14 African countries who met on Goree Island, Senegal, the organisation was designed “to enhance the sustainability of creative industries in Africa.” Its membership includes individuals, organisations, donors, companies and institutions engaged in the African cultural sector.
Membership details can be obtained from [email protected] as well as from Peter Churu who is the Chairman of Arterial Network Zimbabwe on his e-mail, [email protected].
- Feedback: [email protected].
Online Reporter