Zim arts players discuss COVID-19 impact at ResiliArt debate
Zimbabwe's creatives have been urged to build strong partnerships to mitigate the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The call was made during a virtual ResiliArt debate organised by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) at the weekend. The discussion focused on young people in the arts, opportunities for local artists, and the impact of the lockdown.
Nhimbe Trust’s Lisa Sidambe said while artists had responded to the challenges brought by COVID-19 by taking their work to digital spaces, there was a need to support this transition with the proper infrastructure and policy framework.
“Artists need to work together to package digital products and promote their consumption," she said. "This is very difficult at the moment, as there is a minimal policy environment to support adaptability to this new digital environment.”
House of Arts Association executive chairperson Casper Chigama said the COVID-19 crisis had shaken the creative scene in the country and transformed artists’ analogue ideas into digital projects.
“The digital environment has increased marketing space for some creative arts while others have suffered diminished returns due to lack of physical audiences. We therefore need to create a space to dialogue as the youth to chart the way forward for the arts sector,” he said.
Music critic and Jibilika Dance Trustn founder Plot Mhako said there was a need for coherent government support.
“At the moment, ministries like tourism, youth, industry and trade all deal with artists in one way or another, resulting in disconnection in support of the arts sector. Artists need to come together to examine and determine the vision for the arts sector in Zimbabwe,” Mhako said.
NACZ deputy director Josiah Kusena called on artists to take the position of thought leaders when dealing with the government. “The government won’t think for the sector. Government works on what the industry wants. There is a need for you to make submissions, create documents that go to the appropriate government officers. Without that nothing will happen.”
Zimbabwe Youth Council representative Juliana Kariri said more artists should apply for government programmes aimed at aiding young creatives.
“We had the Youth Relief Fund which was meant to assist youth social enterprises across the country. While the fund was meant to complement other funds, it is disheartening that there was a low uptake of the fund from the arts sector. We had 5 000 grant applications of which 1 092 were successful. Sadly only 20 were from the arts sector,” Kariri said.
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