Musicians snub Nama

Showbiz Reporter
ORGANISERS of the National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) recorded a slight decline in entries this year as 606 entries were submitted down from 664 last year.The adjudication process is set to commence next week ahead of the award ceremony taking place on February 14 at 7 Arts Theatre in Harare. Nominees will be announced a week before the awards ceremony.

National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) communications and marketing officer, Catherine Mthombeni, hinted that the slight decline in entries could have been because of the Zimbabwe Music Awards.

“There could’ve been a decline because artistes who were not nominated or awarded at the Zimbabwe Music Awards could have been reluctant to enter the Namas as they were probably demoralised,” Mthombeni said.

“Those who submitted include production houses, studios, stables, galleries, organisations, associations, groups and artistes.”

Mthombeni said the awards, which recognise outstanding achievements within the arts sector, would this year have nine categories.

The categories are Music, Literary, Dance, Visual, Film and Television, Theatre, Media, Spoken Word and Special awards.

Asked how the winners would be selected, Mthombeni said NACZ had appointed a team of monitors who would keep an eye on excelling artistes throughout the year.

“A panel of independent adjudicators is appointed to preside over all the submissions and nominees. Winners are then selected for each award category.

“The adjudicators are guided by a set selection criteria.  The Nama disciplines that are adjudicated are dance, film, literary arts, theatre, music, visual arts, media and spoken word,” said Mthombeni.

“The awards are a means of encouraging creativity and excellence in the quality of the arts, making Zimbabwe a force to reckon with on the international arena.

“They also aim to inspire artistes to strive for higher and original forms of creativity and provide an opportunity for arts disciplines to jointly market and publicise the arts locally, regionally and internationally.”

This year’s awards ceremony held in Bulawayo belonged to Jah Prayzah as he bagged four gongs.