WATCH: Cowdray Park home on the cards for People’s Choice winner

31 Oct, 2021 - 00:10 0 Views
WATCH: Cowdray Park home on the cards for People’s Choice winner Saimon Mambazo Phiri

The Sunday News

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
WHEN the winner of the People’s Choice Award is announced at the ROIL Bulawayo Arts Awards (RBAAs) on Saturday night, they will have a full serviced 200 square metre stand in Cowdray Park, a plan and building material waiting for them as reward for their artistic excellence over the past year.

When they announced that 6 November would be the date for the awards, organisers promised that this year’s ceremony would reward the biggest winner with a “life changing” award, after regular complaints from city artistes that awards never changed their livelihoods for the better.

This year’s awards will be held at the Large City Hall.

In an interview with Sunday Life, one of the organisers of the awards, Saimon Mambazo Phiri said while they had always felt that a gong was award enough, the organisers felt that it was time for artistes to own properties.

“…we are in the sector and we are aware how the sector has suffered in the Covid-19 era. Our wish has always been that the arts become a life changing career and this is our aim.

In consultation with some sponsors, we have been saying we want to give people tangible prizes. Although I say this with the awareness that the award itself is an amazing prize that artistes should be able to use to profile themselves going further.

The gong should buy you a house or a car or start a hustle…the biggest prize this year is a residential stand, that is confirmed but also with the motivation provided by the residential stand we have got other people on board,” he said.

Phiri said organisers have secured most of all that was needed for the house, with their hopes that all necessary material would have been acquired by 6 November. He said the decision not to build the house was deliberate, as they wanted the artiste to have the liberty of constructing their own home.

“We have secured bricks, we have secured cement, we have secured roofing for the potential house that could be built. Our idea was not just to give a house, because we feel like there are too many handouts. So, we are creating space for the artiste to build a house because they are creatives.

We are hoping that by the 6th of November we would have secured all the material for the artistes to build a dream home. We also want the sector to be involved.

When the area is being cleared, we want the artistes to help and when it’s time to paint, of which Nash Paints is providing all the paint, it would be nice for us to also get our hands dirty when it is all done,” he said.

The decision to stagger the awards over three nights, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, was motivated by a desire to give often neglected categories a chance to shine, Phiri said.

“The idea is to get more people to get to see the awards.

The numbers are limited at the main awards. The idea is also to showcase all the genres. Some people might call them minority genres but to me all genres are the same.

When people go to the awards, they usually want to have a drink and see things that are upbeat which means that your theatre, your poetry, your literary arts never get to be seen.

So, on Wednesday we showcase the three nominated productions which will showcase the six nominated outstanding actors and actresses. You get to see the poets and comedians that are also nominated.

It’s a dress up event on the night the awards for those categories will be given away. On Thursday, we will have the nominees’ dinner which is a welcome development because it was not there last year,” he said.

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