The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
PERHAPS for the first time in the history of the country’s award ceremonies, Zimbabweans saw an artiste disown a gong that they had been “fairly” awarded to them.
After the National Arts Merit Awards (Namas) last week, the question on most arts lover’s lips was how Tahle we Dzinza had walked away with gong in the Music Video category.
After all Tahle’s video had never been seen by anyone before its triumph and even worse, could not be found on any platform. It seemed that her award winning product had come “sealed in a packaged addressed only to the adjudicators with a label that read, For Your Eyes Only.”
Award ceremonies are by their nature controversial but even by those standards, this was an unprecedented victory and it was no wonder that it sent tongues wagging for days afterwards.
This was not to be the end of the saga. Only a few days after she “won”, Tahle released a statement putting a fair distance between her and the stench that the award brought. It was the artistic equivalent of taking burning hot coals back to Hwange’s colliery.
“The above video was awarded the music video of the year merit. Since that announcement our artist Tahle We Dzinza has received statements designed to injure and damage her standing as a professional artist and the integrity of her business ethic. The statements made are based on the assumption that our artist submitted the Nama application. Tahle We Dzinza has always collaborated with other artists. The application in question was submitted by the film producer Jonathan Samukange in his capacity as a film maker and not by Tahle We Dzinza in her capacity as a musician.
“This is not the first time that artists have approached us to use Tahle’s music to show case their skill and craft. The award in essence was awarded to Jonathan Samukange for the direction of the music video, this is the reason for those who watched the Namas and Jonathan Samukange of DreamHaus received the award in his capacity as a film director as he was the applicant, not Tahle We Dzinza. The Nama award is not hers and she never accepted it,” the statement read.
When artistes start distancing themselves from an award, it is fair to say that there is a big problem. Attempts by National Arts of Zimbabwe (NACZ) Josiah Kuseni’s Acting Director to clear the air only served to thicken the smoke around the whole fiasco.
“Each category has got as criteria that the adjudicators are looking to make sure that the submissions that are made are submitted to their requirements,” he told ZBC in an interview. “Each person that is submitted is then rigorously looked into to make sure that they meet the standards that are recommended.
‘We also have monitors, which are institutions that the National Arts Council would have identified to help us identify exceptional artistes whose work has not been discovered by anyone but are making a significant contribution towards the development and promotion of arts in this country.”
With the whole process of deciding who the cream in the country’s arts scene is seemingly shrouded in mystery, arts commentator Plot Mhako, said the ceremony could benefit from much-needed reform that could bring it closer to the people.
“Committee-based award systems like the one that is used by the Grammys and other ceremonies leverage on expertise and quality control but risk exclusivity and subjectivity around the nomination as well as the awarding of awards. I think for the Namas to improve their process, a huddled approach with clear public awareness and independent adjudicators could balance accessibility expert evaluation. This would ensure that deserving artistes from diverse backgrounds can actually win,” Mhako said.
Beyond the controversial video, for Bulawayo this year’s awards were an even bigger disappointment. If the Namas were a poll, then people of Bulawayo voted on their feet with empty seats betraying apathy that made a mockery of what is meant to be the country’s premier awards ceremony.
Perhaps the crux of the matter was the belief amongst local arts influencers that the organisers seemed to attempt to transplant Harare into the City of Kings. When the Namas were first held in Bulawayo in 2013, what made that ceremony remarkable was how everything, from the performances to the choreography, attempted to bring the art heart of Bulawayo, alive and pulsating, onto the stage. The week leading to that event was electric, with stakeholders in the city left with a feeling that they owned the product and had a real part to play in the spectacle that was set to unfold at the Large City Hall.
This time, everything appeared to have been ripped away from the city and all that was left, was a colourless ceremony that did not possess the vibrancy and flavour Bulawayo is renowned for.
Many artistes from the city were absent, with many big names in the local music industry from around the country failing to make an appearance. At a glance, it appeared as if the Namas had lost their power to attract the stars, the lifeblood of any ceremony worth its salt.
During the event, there was also a general lack of excitement from the audience, with people only truly engaging when Bulawayo artists were on the stage.
Of concern to some of the attendees was how prominent people who make the industry tick in Bulawayo such as Chichi the Poetic Queen and members of Deb 3 events were seated among the general audience rather than in VIP sections like their counterparts from the capital.
The event did not meet the expected standard of a red carpet event, with attendees making appearances in shocking outfits. Some donned hoodies, and others wore slopes, which was far below the standard set by Bulawayo’s own award ceremonies and events.
Despite these criticisms, it was not all doom and gloom on stage, with the performances from such acts such as Sithandazile Dube the Poet, MJ Sings, Noluntu J, and Bhekiwe earning praise. Other exceptional performances were from Tamy Moyo as well as Baba Harare.
