Zim to host inaugural Pabodzi Music Conference in 2021
The first edition of Pabodzi Music Conference will be held in Harare, Zimbabwe, in July 2021.
The event will run under theme, Co-creating, and will feature speakers from Zimbabwe and the diaspora with a view to exchange ideas and create synergies to unlock value across the music industry’s value chain.
Pabodzi Music Conference is planned to be held annually and will comprise discussions, talks, panels, keynotes, presentations, workshops, networking sessions and product exhibitions.
“Zimbabwe's musical heritage is extraordinarily rich and diverse, having morphed into different forms over the course of time,” Pabodzi Music Conference spokesperson Tarisai Kanyama said. “Its success is largely tied to stakeholder ability to accept this and strategise to the overall advantage of the sector.
“It is therefore instructive that the conference illuminate discussions pertaining to the deployment and harnessing of digital tools, which are key and critical to respond to both the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the post-COVID-19 new normal where music business will reflect changes in the digital space. Since the emergence of COVID-19, music growth prospects have noticeably dimmed. The moratorium on public performances have left not only musicians struggling to make ends meet but also placed considerable pressure on other stakeholders owing to liquidity challenges.”
Kanyama said large areas of Zimbabwe’s economy had been affected, particularly entertainment, which required stakeholders to rethink how to navigate the industry going forward.
“It is anticipated that the conference will bring in multiple experts with demonstrable understanding of this new normal, which should go a long way in enhancing independent, innovative and critical thinking towards the application of technologies, especially in music distribution and a value chain,” she said.
The conference is the brainchild of Pabodzi Curators, a group of young cultural researchers and archivists tracking and documenting the creative industry in Zimbabwe. The group comprises Edward Kararira (SA), Tawanda Kajawu (UK), Tamika Manyoni (Zimbabwe), Plot Mhako (Germany), Marshall Shonhai (Zimbabwe), Ngqabutho Boaz Gumede (UK), Norman Mafuratidze (SA) and Innocent Tinashe Mutero (SA).
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