Zim: NAMAs to host legend awards

Titled the NAMAs Legends Awards, next year’s edition will be held on 27 February under the theme, Our Legacy, Our Pride. The event follows the postponement of the competitive 20th NAMAs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike the traditional NAMAs, recipients of the NAMAs Legends Awards will be selected by a jury representing various arts associations in Zimbabwe.

The announcement was made by National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) director Nicholas Moyo at a press briefing in Harare this week. Moyo said next year’s awards would recognise legendary creatives who made major contributions in the past 40 years.

“The postponed NAMAs will be held in February 2022 and will reward artworks created from 1 December 2019 to 30 November 2021,” he said. “This extended period is to allow artists to resume their operations in light of the relaxed COVID-19 regulations.

“This will be a unique event in the sense that on the night we shall honour 40 legends as we celebrate 40 years of independence. We therefore have dubbed it the NAMAs Legends Awards.

“The prestigious competitive annual awards are therefore postponed for a year owing to the impact of the COVID-19 disease on creativity and the arts sector in particular over the past eight months. In reaching the decision to postpone the competitive NAMAs, the NACZ is cognisant of the fact that a lack of activity in the sector has greatly affected the ability of artists to create in their usual spaces.”