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This period was marked by a plethora of arts and cultural activities that were the order of the day in all corners of the city.
Recreational halls, Amakhosi Cultural Centre and film theatres dotted across the city were full of life, with a hive of activities that gave birth to seasoned arts personalities that include the likes of Mackey Tickeys, Fortune Ruzungunde, Taurai Muswere the late Beatar Mangethe, among other great arts personalities that have left a mark on the local entertainment scene.
The recently held Intwasa Festival, one of the city’s biggest arts events, evoked a lot of memories of yesteryear when the city was inundated with a variety of art and cultural activities.
This has led to some to be convinced that the city’s arts credentials were slowly depreciated and unfortunately no-one was readily available to give answers.
Among the questions asked was what has happened to the cultural Mecca of Zimbabwe, as hordes of entertainment and recreational facilities are slowly, but surely, turning into white elephants?
What happened to activities that used to take place at these venues and can those who built them smile after seeing their investment going under the drain?
The future of Bulawayo arts goes beyond personas like Raisedon Baya, Christopher Mlalazi, Josh Nyapimbi, Sandra Ndebele, the late Yvonne Vera, Beatar Mangethe, Cont and Styx Mhlanga.
These artistes are among the endless lists of arts gurus that have emerged from the City of Kings and played a pivotal role in building and shaping the Bulawayo arts industry.
Saturday Leisure spoke to Amakhosi executive director and living legend of Bulawayo arts, Cont Mhlanga, who defined what the term cultural hub meant before shedding light on what has crippled the once vibrant and envied entertainment and cultural scene.
He said the definition cultural hub goes beyond music and dance, it was sad to note that most people when referring to arts, they restrict it to dance and music only.
Mhlanga said cultural hub refers to community based cultural assets that form the basis of the arts, we have many assets that are lying idle in the city because we have people that cannot utilise them.
He took a swipe at the young generation, labelling them a dull and lazy generation of people that are failing to utilise the abundant resources to entertain and create jobs for themselves.
“It is unfortunate that we have a dull and lazy generation of young people who cannot harvest from the resources that are around them.
“Bulawayo was adorned the cultural hub of Zimbabwe because in terms of assets, we have seven amphitheatres that are lying idle because there is no one to utilise them and people jostle for one venue yet there is a variety to choose from,” said the producer of multi-award winning projects.
He said the full utilisation of these cultural assets brings people from all walks of life together.
“Back in the day we had people who would travel from as far as Gweru to come and watch local productions and that unified people from all walks of life.
“Bulawayo has a capacity of producing about 21 films a year but now it’s amazing that we see one or two films a year which shows the lack of seriousness in the artistes of today,” said Mhlanga.
The five-day Intwasa Festival held at various venues in the city last month rejuvenated the appreciation and love for the arts from the people of Bulawayo.
One prominent artiste who declined to be named said it was sad that the five day festival had rekindled yesteryear memories when “’Bulawayo was still Bulawayo” and it would take some months again before people could get such an opportunity.
“Back in the day people would be spoilt for choice in terms of choosing where to go, as there were an array of events lined from Monday to Friday, but that is long gone.
It takes ages for people to have such events in the city, we have to wait for the Intwasa Festival or Ibumba Festival to have such quality shows other than musical bands from foreign lands.
“The lack of exposure leads to audience apathy for shows that are held at these festivals,” said the artiste.
A snap survey carried out by Saturday Leisure revealed that several community halls are used by dance groups as rehearsal rooms and often booked for weddings and community meetings other than that they have become dormant.
As for theatre halls there is nothing much to write home about.
This year, there were quite a handful of works that have been produced; these include the re-incanation of Zimbabwe’s timeless stage play Stitsha. The play is one of the best homegrown productions that hit the small screen back in the day.
Other productions include, the latest sitcom Tshuz’ Maz’khethela, the half baked feature film Inhlanhla, Gri-Eshe by united Bulawayo artistes and forthcoming series Nyami Nyami.
Online Reporter