The Sunday News
THE importance of teamwork in anything that people do can never be overemphasised as there is always a fusion of strengths.
And motivation speakers say the term TEAM is an abbreviation that simply means together each achieves more.
Yes, those that have been working as a team and have had successful results cannot agree more but not for the 14th edition of the National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) winners Israel Israel and Clifford Zulu. They have a different story to tell.
The date was 14 February, the venue was 7 Arts Theatre in Avondale in the capital and the award category was visual arts.
The visual arts category carries four awards which are Outstanding 2 Dimensional Work, Outstanding 3 Dimensional Work, Outstanding Mix Media and Outstanding Exhibition.
The two worked together and co-curetted an exhibition which beat two other exhibitions from the nomination list. The two that were nominated together with theirs were Social Zoometry by Wallen Mapondera and Women at the top by Doreen Sibanda and Thandazani Dhlakama.
For their outstanding exhibition on Crossing the bridge, the two walked away with a gong. But the two are just workmates. They don’t stay in the same roof, neither are they related.
Their families were of course watching the events as they were unfolding albeit in the comfort of their homes. The gong was collected by Israel.
That was not the problem as the two agreed that same night that the gong be kept by Zulu, for Israel had two or three of his own at home.
But it was the presentation of the awards to the Bulawayo Nama winner at Zimbabwe International Trade Fair on Wednesday that created a dilemma for the two firebrand artistes. Not that there is bad blood between them but just the confusion on who should keep what and how.
The two got a single cellular handset courtesy of GTEL, a National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ)’s partner. They got GTEL A7006 infinity dual core phone together with 10 other Nama winners from the region.
But those who have been following the developments were eager to know how the two will use the phone after the GTEL marketing director Robert Gonye advised them not to sell the gadgets but to use them to enhance their marketing and communication strategies.
Asked to comment on the issue, Israel said he was yet to meet Zulu so that they see how they can share the award.
He, however, said it was problematic in that even after they won the gong their families and friends were asking how they would share it with some even suggesting that they donate it to the gallery. They objected as they had already reached consensus.
“My kids at home were the ones who asked what happened to the award after I arrived from Harare with nothing. I had to explain to them that I decided to let my partner keep it and now with the phone we will have to agree on what to do with it.
“We thought they were simply going to give us each a phone,” he said.
Contacted for comment on the issue NACZ communications and marketing officer Cathrine Mthombeni said there was nothing amiss about the two getting the award for the work they put together.
She said it was their exhibition and not them as individuals that won and therefore the award was just supposed to be one.
“What won was the exhibition and not the two particular individuals as in Israel and Zulu. There is nothing we can do about that one as NACZ. It’s totally up to them as of what they are going to do with their prize,” she said.
