Southern African creatives challenge governments to prioritise female artists

The call to empower female artists was made during a ResiliArt debate organised by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ). ResiliArt is a global movement that was launched by UNESCO to shed light on the far-reaching repercussions of COVID-19 on the cultural sector.

Speaking during the virtual debate, Music Crossroads Zimbabwe director Melody Zambuko said governments should establish quota systems.

“The unequal access to opportunities is quite clear,” she said. “The working space needs to be levelled as women are the multi-taskers of our society. You will remember that long before COVID-19, women were marginalised in the workspace. Regardless of occupying the same position at work, female officers earned less than their male counterparts.”

Zimbabwean artist and businesswoman Patience Phiri said the COVID-19 crisis had increased the gap between male and female artists.

“What we need as women is for the government to invest in us. We want to say to the government, please love us, please pay us, please give us safe platforms, and can we please be treated equally to your boy children that you love so dearly? If you invest in us, we will make you so proud,” Phiri said.

Trade Union for Musicians of South Africa (TUMSA) co-founder Ernestine Deane said many female artists found themselves in prolonged situations of unemployment. She added that the arts, culture and tourism sectors were the first to be affected by the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

“We call upon governments to issue, as a matter of urgency, any available relief funds," Deane said. "Governments need to quickly identify different needs of the various communities that make up the creative sector and support each community with its desired needs. There is no one size fits all, especially for women who have been severely affected by COVID-19.”

Mozambique’s Tapiwa Langa said female artists in the region felt left out of government programmes, but many women felt that their pleas would fall on deaf ears.

“I think women here are courageous to speak out, but most of them see themselves being left out and they just keep quiet. So I would like to congratulate you for this platform and say as women in the arts industry in Mozambique, we are in this struggle together,” Langa said.

In May, the NACZ hosted a ResiliArt debate to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on local events. To date, the council has organised four ResiliArt debates, which have provided a platform for more than 200 local and regional creatives to discuss various COVID-19 challenges.