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Columbus Mabika
Herald Reporter
Six new members, including Zimpapers chief executive officer Mr Pikirayi Deketeke, have been appointed to the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) board in line with the Gallery of Zimbabwe Act of 1985 and the Public Entities Corporate Governance Act of 2019.
The members will serve a five year term beginning yesterday.
The other members were Ms Chelsea Sian Evans, Mr Morris Mpala, Mr Bryn Taurai Mteki, Mr Nigel Phillip and Ms Joyce Chimanye.
They will complement the already serving board members who were appointed by President Mnangagwa in 2017 who are Dr Solomon Guramatunhu, Mr Busani Bafana, Mr Job Ronald Torindoh, Mrs Patricia Broderick and Mr David Scott.
Announcing the appointments, Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, Dr Kirsty Coventry, challenged the board to come up with an arts strategy deriving from the national creative industries strategy.
“I have the pleasure to announce the appointment of additional trustees for the Board of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe as approved by President Mnangagwa,” she said. “The appointments are in fulfilment of the NGZ Act of 1985 and the Public Entities Corporate Governance Act of 2019.
“I expect you to come up with a visual arts strategy that derives from the overarching national creative industries strategy. The Government has two critical documents that you need to know as a board, these are the National Arts, Culture and Heritage Policy and the national Culture and Creative Industries Strategy.”
Cabinet recently approved the principles for the Arts and Culture Bill, which seeks to harmonise the laws on administration and structures of the sector.
Minister Coventry said visual arts were critical in the quest to attain an upper middle income economy by 2030.
“As you are aware, Government has clearly articulated the need to attain an upper middle income economy by year 2030 and this will be attained through a five year development plan under the National Development Strategy,” she said.
“Within this framework, the visual arts are a critical vehicle for several areas like the national economy, employment creation, image building, strategic national rebranding and national building.”
To guarantee development of quality products, Government was keen to institutionalise quality training which would help reclaim the visual arts market and combat piracy.
Minister Coventry implored visual arts practitioners to utilise digital media platforms in showcasing their work.
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