Chronicle Editor
Raisedon Baya
WE had a great time during the recently held Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo. The festival was able to successfully curate more than 50 events both online and physically. Probably the highlights of this year’s edition was the Women, Wine and Words event that seeks to showcase and celebrate women talent, creativity and participation in the creative sector.
This year the event featured the world travelling and award winning all women ensemble Nobuntu and the woman of the moment Feli Nandi. The two acts brought their A-game to the stage and left many festival goers asking for more. It was a beautiful night, especially after many months of lockdown and our people not able to witness any physical shows.
The other highlights were probably the comedy show, which featured new comics and new acts and lived up to its billing as a night of laughter. We all needed to laugh after what Covid-19 did to many of us. The festival workshops were also well attended — especially by young creatives eager to learn and upgrade.
The only small blight to the otherwise great week of festivity was the festival getting phone calls from hotels complaining about the disappearance of towels from rooms where several artistes had been booked. Well, to be honest it’s not the first time the festival was getting such complaints.
In the past many artistes have left hotels and lodges with towels and glasses. It happens. But it is a very bad practice that must stop.
Some years back we were part of a workshop in some hotel in Kezi and spent about two weeks in this hotel and when we were leaving the whole hotel management ran to our bus screaming that they were missing a lot of towels and cutlery. They wanted to search everyone’s bags. It was a scene, so much noise and accusations. Fortunately, we were travelling with two lawyers who told the hotel that it was unlawful to search hotel residents or something to that effect.
You know lawyers and their language. In the end the hotel let us go without searching us. A few days later when we visited a colleague of ours we found him hanging about four hotel towels he had just washed. When we asked him why he had stolen the towels he just laughed and told us to leave him alone.
Sometimes during the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) I travelled with some artists to the festival. We were booked in a hotel.
After our performance a couple of artistes decided to take towels too. Fortunately, we got wind of it before leaving the hotel and we asked them to return the towels to their rooms and they reluctantly did so. Stealing is a bad a habit.
It doesn’t matter how small the things you steal are. Anyway, when we tweeted about the theft of towels someone took offence and decided to defend the artistes by claiming it is because they are underpaid. A somewhat silly excuse, if you ask any right-thinking person.
All civil servants are underpaid as we write. Are we saying they should go about stealing things from their workplaces or wherever they go because they are underpaid? No! Stealing is a crime and should never be justified.
It doesn’t matter your reasoning it is just not OK. Besides being bad it also gives a bad reputation to the festival which could result in the bad treatment of other innocent artistes that the festival may bring to these hotels in the future.
Away from the festival and its events, the Roil Bulawayo Arts Festival just announced its 2021 nominees. We want to congratulate these artists for being able to be creative and produce something during the pandemic when many couldn’t work.
We say congratulations and hope the best artists win during the awards ceremony in November. Have a great week.
Online Reporter