Trade fair for artistes on cards

Yvonne Ncube, Showbiz Correspondent

A LOCAL comedian has initiated a trade fair for artistes which seeks to promote them and appreciate their different forms of art.

Diverse artistes will be given a platform to showcase their art from music to food.

The inaugural event, that has been dubbed Project X, is set to take place on August 27 at The Venue with a Twist in Killarney, Bulawayo. It will feature live performances from various artistes, mostly from Bulawayo and some from other cities.

Project founder Langa Ndimande told Chronicle Showbiz that if all goes well, this will be an annual event.

“Project X is a cultural event that we want to be a trade fair-like programme for the arts. We’re going to host the event on a big field with different stalls.

There’ll be a stage for performing artistes and space for people who’ll be selling their wares. This is the first time that we’ll be hosting this event and I hope that we’ll be able to turn it into an annual event,” Ndimande said.

He said the aim of the project is to market local artistes.

“Project X is meant to help artistes. We’re trying to help build their brands so that after this event we’ll have people who’ll be better than what they were. We want them to be close to being stars, if not stars,” he said.

Artistes who are billed to take part include Boy Nino, R Peels, Ray Vines, Indigo Saints, Kid Thrill, Lorded Ward, Amasalad Elokhishin, Leezie Taylor, Swazy Tabza, Luminous, Fish F Ndaramu, Rockie Doub, Megatronz Empire, Mengezi the Musician and GTI. DJs include DJ Ble, Cosmos Ronuij, Cue, Macafi, DJ Ntu2kay and Curtis Dee.

Ndimande said the project is more than an event.

“I love to see this as more than just an event. It’s a programme that’s seeking to uplift the different kinds of art in Zimbabwe. It’s going to be executed in such a way that will see us visit all of the 10 provinces in Zimbabwe and reach out to the artistes in their respective crafts, from fashion designers, food enthusiasts, photography lovers, musicians, dancers, and comedians to visual artists,” said Ndimande.

He said this is also an opportunity for artistes to broaden their work.

“This is an opportunity also for artistes to broaden their horizons and reach a wider majority. Some of the top social media bloggers and internet influencers will grace the event and dish out advice to some of those up-and-coming artists who want to break into the internet scene to market their different crafts.” – @SeehYvonne