The Sunday News
Raisedon Baya, Arts Focus
This past week Urban Culture, an online magazine focusing on entertainment and the arts and based in Bulawayo, released the 2nd edition of their Bulawayo’s top 100 influential people.
This is a list that supposedly features the who-is-who of Bulawayo in terms of business, sports, arts and culture. I vividly remember the first list that came in 2015 and the uproar that followed the release of the list. To be honest it was a curious list that left those that came across it with more questions than answers.
Everyone who saw the list wanted to know:
What it took to be on the list.
What criteria was used to select the top 100?
Who did the actual selection?
Whether the list was based on research or was just an opinion list?
The huge controversy around the list brought a lot of attention to Urban Culture and a lot of visits to their site. And most people who had no idea what Urban Culture was about got to know them during this time. To be honest it was a good gamble for the young magazine.I really want to believe that they went about releasing this year’s list with the same hope as last year — secretly praying for their second list to create the same noise as last year. Unfortunately, this year’s list did not bring as much noise as last year — at least that is what I think and I could be wrong. And the reason for less noise this year could be as follows:
1 Last year, when asked to justify their list, Urban Culture failed to justify the criteria they had used to select the top 100, therefore a lot of people lost interest in their list. I remember in one response they said it was their list. (But in truth is it just their list?)
2 The year’s list looks almost the same as last year’s. If there are any changes they are very minor and not noticeable.
3 Most people expected the list to be controversial anywhere. The only surprise Urban Culture could have come up with was to come up with a researched list — because this would have looked very different from what they released.
Is the list really necessary? One might ask. I believe it is. It is a necessary distraction — especially for artistes. (In one WhatsApp group that I’m a member of there wer even suggestions to create their own list) Whether done the right way or not the list is necessary for creating debate. I also believe once in a while we need to acknowledge those that are doing well in their own sectors — the list tries to do this, in its own way. It is just unfortunate that the top 100 list does not make it clear which sector they are talking about. Is it business? Is it the arts? Is it sports?
I could be wrong but I don’t think Raji Modi can be on the same list as a small time and unknown actor in the township. What spheres of influence will be talking about? What influence does an out of work artiste have on his/her community? Better if it was an artiste who works every week, or an artistes whose work speak for themselves but a mere artiste who last went on stage two or three years ago? What influence does he/she have? And what influences are talking about when we include people who are not even known beyond the hedge that separate their home from their neighbours?
Unless and until Urban Culture starts giving us a proper criteria on how they come up with their list, until they also give more information about those in their list than just mere names, very few people will take the list serious. As for now I strongly believe that the list is created for two reasons. First it was to counter the Harare list that had appeared last year. Secondly, it was meant to create hype/controversy that will get Urban Culture more hits on their site. It is my hope that one day this list will grow into a credible list that everyone will wish to be on.
