adminStories by Kumbirayi Shoniwa Entertainment Reporter
Acclaimed writer, filmmaker, academic and cultural activist Tsitsi Dangarembga, is set to share various issues about culture and the economy with audience at the Art Talk event set for Hellenic Academy in Harare tomorrow.Dangarembga will present a paper entitled “Our culture is our economy”.
Art Talk aims to bring renowned artists and other stakeholders to discuss pertinent issues affecting the arts industry in general with the aim to improve conditions and mindsets.
Dangarembga’s topic takes a look at what it means to describe culture as a way of economic sustainability, with particular focus on the arts and how she comes to her conclusion through highlighting her own work.
The renowned artist is the Founder member of the International Images Film Festival for Women and also a director of the Institute of Creative Arts for Progress in Africa Trust.
In 1988 Dangarembga published her first novel “Nervous Conditions” which gained acclaim as one of the continent’s most important novels of the 20th Century and she won the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Africa region) in the following year.
In 2007 and 2008 respectively she was awarded the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe’s Arts Service and Arts Personality of the year awards.
An official at the Hellenic Academy confirmed the participation of Dangarembga at the Art Talk event and encouraged interested members to attend.
“Tsitsi Dangarembga is a very influential and powerful speaker and the topic she will be discussing will be very significant to artists and scholars alike because it highlights the importance of culture and how creative works contribute to the nation’s economy,” she said.
The previous Art Talks at Hellenic Academy featured prominent local multimedia visual artist Masimba Hwati who presented a topic called “The energy of objects” as well as ballet specialist Faye Jackson’s presentation of “The Art of Ballet’’.
Online Reporter