The girl child is rising

Nkululeko Nkala

Arts, just like many other facets of industry is male-dominated. I can count in one hand the female choreographers in the city and struggle to come up with five top female musicians too.

One thing though that stands true is that we have a lot of talented women in Bulawayo. Happenings this week opened my eyes to how beautiful it is when many women come together for the betterment of the arts.

I am part of the team thataï¿½ï¿½s opening and closing the Cosafa Womenaï¿½ï¿½s Championship next week. We are working with a lot of amazing female artistes from various groups in Bulawayo.

A stone throw away at a new venue called Bluez CafAï¿½, we have visitors who are part of a project dubbed aï¿½?Unified Women Projectaï¿½?.

The project features 10 local women and seven young women from the Young Vic Theatre in London. The project will run for the next two weeks.

The young women arrived in Zimbabwe on 3 September and were met at a welcoming dinner in the city, with live music by Afro Queens aï¿½ï¿½ a womenaï¿½ï¿½s music group currently resident at Bluez CafAï¿½, and the Khaya Traditional Dance Group. The Young Vic Theatre and Nhimbe Trust are partners in The Unified Women Project providing cultural exchange between young women and emerging creatives in the UK and Zimbabwe, through collaboration to explore topical themes such as migration, conflict, feminism and the ways in which the ideas relate to their lives and differing experiences.

The project will empower and increase the confidence of participants, as well as improve literacy, communication and presentation skills. It is supported by the British Council and is the first international collaboration of this scale for both the Young Vic Theatre (UK) and Nhimbe Trust.

The Young Vic is a famous theatre just a short walk from Waterloo mainline and underground station in the heart of London.Aï¿½ Through its aï¿½?Taking Partaï¿½? programme, the women from two London boroughs will engage and interact with women artistes of Bulawayo in an exciting meeting of minds.

Local participants were selected from among the many talented young women who responded to Nhimbeaï¿½ï¿½s call for female Zimbabwean scriptwriters in March, and participants in May, and auditions in June 2017.

Nhimbe Trust is an arts education organisation and leader in cultural policy research, training and advocacy, and in the promotion and defence of freedom of creative expression. Its programme aï¿½?Women in Theatre & Televisionaï¿½?, which is supported by Africalia (Belgium), and other cultural partners, and has enjoyed huge growth and many successes in Bulawayo and beyond.

Nhimbeaï¿½ï¿½s executive director Josh Nyapimbi said: aï¿½?The arrival of Young Vic Theatre is after a seed sowed in 2013 during a Commonwealth Fellowship in London UK, when I spent a week at Young Vic Theatre. Thank you to Chipo Chung and friends for facilitating the Commonwealth Fellowship, and the British Council for supporting the Unified Women Project cultural exchange between Nhimbe Trust and Young Vic Theatre.aï¿½?

Itaï¿½ï¿½s initiatives like this that will cement the position of the girl child in our arts. I can only wish that the 10 young women chosen by Nhimbe Trust also experience London. Sandra Ndebele has Intombi Zomqangala, Nhimbe Trust has a film school, Centre for Talent Development is breeding the artiste of tomorrow in their numbers. If this persists we will have many female artistes.

Until next week, be safe. @nkuenkala