The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) will on 09 December hold a Silver Jubilee Concert to mark its 25th Anniversary. Oliver Mtukudzi will play alongside Victor Kunonga at the silver jubilee celebration show.
The Live show which is meant to honour NACZ 25 years of existence is a chance for partners and stakeholders in the arts sector to celebrate together with NACZ their contribution in the development and promotion of the arts industry in the past 25 years. The Silver Jubilee Concert was made possible through the Tuku Music label.
The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) was set up through an Act of Parliament 25 years ago to foster, develop and improve the knowledge, understanding and practice of the arts and their presentation, performance, execution and the exhibition of the same to the various publics. The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe has travelled a long, sometimes hard, illustrious journey to be where it is now. NACZ has over the years played a major role in sustaining the cultural heart of the country, through supporting a wide range of artistic activity, arts festivals and cultural fairs.
Some of the Major landmarks in the History of NACZ include the following:
i) In 1998, the Minister of Education, Sport and Culture transferred
all cultural activities including those that were done by Literature Bureau to National Arts Council of Zimbabwe and appointed for the first time a 9 member Board to spearhead the transformation of the Council in order to make it the authority and regulator of the arts and culture in Zimbabwe.
ii) In 2000, Government made a policy position that ensured that there
be 75% local content in programming on both radio and television. This allowed the exposure of artistic talent which would otherwise have gone unnoticed.
iii) In 2001, NACZ was the founding member of International Federation
of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) in Canada. This has helped the Council remain connected to the international community through link with IFACCA. Zimbabwe assisted in the formation of all the Arts Councils in SADC countries and recently in the formation of the IFACCA African Chapter with the inaugural meeting of the Chapter hosted by NACZ in April 2010.
iv) In 2003, government gazetted a Statutory Instrument 136 of 2003
that allows artists to import musical, broadcasting, recording and PA Systems duty free. This has over the years changed the face of the arts and culture in Zimbabwe as it has led to growth of television programmes, theatre, films and music. However, there are still other arts and culture sectors that would like to enjoy the same privileges.
v) In 2003, NACZ was instrumental in the creation of the Culture Fund
of Zimbabwe Trust, a funding body created by artists and supported by funds from SIDA.
vi) In 2003, NACZ came up with the policy of Provincial Arts Festival
in all the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe. The first provincial arts festival created as a result of this policy by NACZ was Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo in 2004 and subsequently many such festivals have now been established in 8 of the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe.
vii) Zimbabwe succeeded to lobby for the proclamation of
Jerusarema/Mbende Traditional Dance to be proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by the Director General of UNESCO in November 2005. Murewa Culture House was declared the centre of the dance.
This means Jerusarema dancers will get world recognition and UNESCO will support financially and technically efforts by Zimbabwe to preserve its costume, form and style.
viii) The Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture handed over the
running of Murewa Culture House to NACZ with effect from 1 January 2006.
This decision has allowed artists to effectively use the centre more productively as the centre has become more accessible to them.
ix) Government passed the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act
(Chapter 26:05) in 2004. This has improved the protection of artists from piracy.
x) In 2005, NACZ published A User's Guide to Copyright Law in Zimbabwe
as a way to ensure artists enforce the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act (Chapter 26:05) that had been passed in 2004.
xi) In 2006, NACZ was supported by UNESCO to carry-out a survey on the
contribution of the creative industry to Gross Domestic Product entitles, RESEARCH REPORT:AN ASSESSMENT OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF ARTS AND CULTURAL INDUSTRIES TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ZIMBABWE. The research report created debate and led to Culture Fund of Zimbabwe commissioning another one and we hope a thorough study will be done leading to the sector getting the attention it deserves.
xii) Again in 2006, NACZ published the first Zimbabwe Arts Directory
2006. This has been quite useful and in 2010 NACZ secured funding from Embassy of Spain and Culture Fund of Zimbabwe to update the Directory.
xiii) This year 2010, The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe in partnership with Cell Funeral Assurance Company established a Cell-ebrity Funeral Cover which provides decent and affordable funeral cover and services to the artistes of Zimbabwe.
The National Arts Council has over the years partnered with different stakeholders both in the arts sector, government and private sector in ensuring that its objectives are fulfilled. To this end Delta Corporation has been the biggest corporate partner of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe funding programmes such as the Chibuku Road to Fame and Chibuku Neshamwari amongst other partner programmes. It is NACZ wish that this public and private partnership will grow to an extent that the corporate sector will be the largest funders of the Arts and Culture Industry in Zimbabwe.
In the past 25 years, in regards to the mission of the organization, NACZ has achieved a lot in the development of the arts sector.
However, lack of funding is still the major hindering factor in the full development of the sector. However, despite these constraints NACZ has been the mainstay of Arts development and promotion. Through our programs, such as the National Arts Merit Awards, Culture Week, and Jikinya Dance Festival, NACZ has been a catalyst in the growth of the Arts industry, this has led to a steady growth in employment figures contributed by the Arts sector.
NACZ has since its inception been critical in insuring that Zimbabwean Artists take their place in the global market. On the international scene, through the auspices of NACZ; exploits of Zimbabwean culture have been exported to other countries. Moreover through participation of Zimbabwean Artists at regional and International levels; Zimbabwean stone sculpture, Mbira, Marimba and Music have over spilled both regionally and internationally. This has resulted in a steady rise in Cultural ambassadors from Zimbabwe, who have received very high accolades overseas. Some of these like Dominic Benhura (sculpture), Oliver Mutukudzi (music), Conte Mhlanga (theatre) and Tsitsi Dangarembga (film and literature), just to mention but a few, have carried the torch of Zimbabwean arts and culture to different parts of the world.
Through the lead of NACZ today, arts and cultural products are found in all homes in one form or the other, irrespective of status. Art is everywhere; in homes, in shops, on the street, in reading materials, on television and even in the cemeteries.
Currently the council is working on a number of projects like the Cell-ebrity Funeral Fund, to improve the welfare of the artists. It is our Goal that by 2013 the Arts sector will contribute about 10% of the GDP. This will be achieved through facilitating the growth of a diverse, dynamic arts and cultural industries that foster national identity.
NACZ looks at the next 25 years as years that will see the arts sector taking its place in the economic development of the country. NACZ also looks to lead through private partnership the construction of cultural centres that will help in the professionalization of the arts industry in Zimbabwe.
Donald Tafadzwa Chidoori
MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER