The Sunday News
Rumbidzai Mbewe, Sunday Life Correspondent
ARTISTES in Bulawayo have been urged to come together and tell the Bulawayo story through creating cultural hubs. A cultural hub is a unique consortium of arts organisations which promotes direct dialogue and sharing of skills between the education and cultural sector. Its role is to bring together colleagues to create, develop and deliver inspirational learning opportunities.
Commenting on social media, renowned playwright and director, Raisedon Baya said Bulawayo has been called by many the unofficial cultural hub of Zimbabwe, yet it has not been functioning as a hub. After touring four hubs in Johannesburg, South Africa, Baya said there was a lot that needs to be done to make city a cultural hub.
“Artistes and authorities need to work together for a common good of the arts sector and the city at large. There must be a common goal, visible or otherwise that most artistes in the hub are working on. If this is not done then we will continue abusing the word hub in our description of Bulawayo as an exciting creative space,” he said.
Baya said there was lack of a common purpose among artistes and urged them to stop competing but start working together, sharing and pushing each other for a common purpose. He said artistes should stop being masters of the mudsling game but pull together.
Commenting on this issue Thabani Moyo, a playwright and teacher, said in order to have such spaces, artistes must not be jealous of others’ work.
“We need to do away with talking bad about each other. It is possible to create hubs in Bulawayo if artistes mature and live to the measure of being creatives, not mud slingers,” he said.
Another artiste, Clifford Zulu said there was nothing tangible about Bulawayo as a cultural hub besides having various ethnic groups in the region converging and practicing in Bulawayo. He also pointed out that there were so many people pretending to be administrators of the arts only to disappear after not delivering.
“So many opportunists come on board purporting to be administrators of the arts, taking artistes on a joy ride applying for funding as practitioners to create the artistes hub, but dololo,” he said.
Baya raised the need for the arts sector to work hand in glove with technology experts for the growth of the industry.
@rumbie_mbewe
