adminNgqwele Dube, Sunday Leisure Correspondent
THE Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo has come and gone. But the observation that the main stage was one of the biggest attractions of the arts fiesta in terms of attendance and remains one of the success stories introduced by director, Raisedon Baya screams loud with questions on whether the local audiences are still far from getting into their pockets to pay for shows or artistes are not doing enough to warrant payment.
The previous years have seen the venue being oversubscribed with hundreds of people gracing shows staged at the venue, situated at the City Hall Car Park, including the official opening that has always been one of the major highlights of the festival.
This year was no different and the festival, which ran from 21 to 26 September, attracted hundreds to the Main Stage which was this year sponsored by traditional beer brewers, Ingwebu and Chibuku on different days.
Shows held at the venue, included the opening ceremony which featured a combined local artistes act and a performance by afro-jazz duo, Afrika Revenge, dance acts such as Iyasa and Umkhathi and musical acts that included an array of local musicians such as Jeys Marabini, Ndolwane Super Sounds, Kupenya Stars, Ndux Junior, Clement Magwaza, Chase Skuza, Kwabatsha and Sungura Masters, among others.
The hundreds of fans in the audience showed appreciation of the acts, they danced and sang along to most of the performances, but for those not in the know, the City Hall Car Park is an open air space and entry to Intwasa’s Main Stage is free which seemed to be the major draw card for the huge audiences that graced the venue.
Interesting, however, when Intwasa is not being held and fans have to pay to gain entry to watch the same musicians at various venues, you find very few people attending the shows.
And the question is, are we a community that hungers for free commodities or we do not find our artistes worth our money?
Ndux Junior said he was also perplexed why their shows attracted low numbers yet at Intwasa when entry is free, they turn up in their numbers.
“I do not know whether they think we are not worth paying for or the huge numbers are attracted by the diverse line up that will be performing at the main stage. Yes, the numbers are not the same when we do shows and I think it is something that should change if artistes are going to be able to earn a living from their work,” he said.
Ndux said performing at the venue was a way of showcasing their work to huge numbers with the hope of enticing them to attend their other shows but it had not been the case.
Iyasa director, Nkululeko Dube said audiences found it difficult to pay for local acts and it was a culture that had been advanced by promoters who pay top dollar for foreign acts.
“It seems as if locals love free shows because I remember there was once a free gala at White City and it had the highest attendance in the history of the galas that have been held countrywide. I think we need a change of attitude and it needs to start with the artistes themselves. If say Babongile Skhonjwa is performing I would want to get in for free instead of paying and it’s vice versa but once as artistes we learn to pay for each other’s work and teach our families to do the same then we can slowly build that culture of paying for our artistes,” he said.
However, Magwaza said he has received enough support at most of his shows as people turn up in their numbers, although his show held in Esigodini early this year only attracted a handful of people but he blamed it on poor advertising on the part of the promoter.
“I’m happy with the audiences that come to my shows, people really do come out to enjoy our act, whether they have to pay or are coming in for free,” he said.
derick.khumalo
Online Reporter