The Sunday News
THE biggest irony about festivals, perhaps in Africa in general and Zimbabwe in particular, is that it is increasingly getting more difficult to curate festivals because of the scarcity of resources which was exacerbated by the coming in of Covid 19.
Strangely in the same environment festivals are proving to be more important than ever – important to communities, countries and even the world in general.
Festivals bring people together (we are constantly preaching about this) — physically or within virtual spaces.
Festivals provide unique experiences for artists and audiences alike. Most festivals celebrate diversity and inclusion.
Festivals tell stories about people and the places they are held. Festivals also promote tourism — the arts are an integral part of tourism. In short festivals are now more necessary than ever before as the remind us why we are alive and why we need to live.
And so, while necessary, festivals have also become a big headache to organise, especially where resources are limited and priorities more skewed.
Festivals in Zimbabwe rely on donor support. The coming of Covid-19 has also meant changing priorities for many funders. Now, because of this irony, it has become more important than before to keep asking ourselves these important questions: Why are we doing the festival? Who is doing the festival? What exactly is the festival about?
For whom are we doing the festival for?
The first two questions are usually easy to answer. Going through a list of local festivals it is easier to see who is organising them and why they are being curated. But it is the last two questions that can be challenging.
Trying to define a multi-disciplinary festival is not easy because it is an animal with many faces, more like an octopus with many legs.
A multi-disciplinary festival has too many events and too many tastes to please. One is constantly battling with different ideas of pushing the festival brand higher and higher. And if not careful music ends up swallowing the whole festival.
It has happened many times where a multi-disciplinary festival ended up being a music festival. The dominance of music in most festival is obvious but may need another day to discuss.
Whom are we doing the festival for? is another difficult question to answer. Is it for artists and their benefits? And what exactly is the critical benefit to the artist? Is it financial benefit or growing skills set? What of the community?
Is the festival about lifting up the community?
Does it want to shine the spotlight on the community by using the arts? Is your festival about the organisers or just a business idea? How a festival answers these questions may actually determine whether it will survive or die. It may also shape its identity.
Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo is on next month. The festival is pencilled in for the third week of September 21 to 25 to be exact.
The virtual component is shaping up well as the festival is busy collecting content from local artists.
It is the physical side of the festival that awaits the relaxation of Covid 19 rules for it to take place. The hope is that the next Cabinet meeting will relax lockdown rules.
