NACZ successfully conducted a highly interactive meeting with Mat South Creatives

The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, NACZ, team led by the Executive Director, Nicholas Moyo, visited creatives in Matabeleland South province today, 25/04/2023. The meeting was held at the Gwanda Rural District Council boardroom. The engagement meeting assessed and analysed the state of the creative and cultural industry in the province where quite a number of issues were discussed and recommendations suggested for the growth and development of artists from the province.

The attendance was quite commendable as the venue was filled to full capacity with artists who specialise in various art categories, an indication that shows how much they value such meetups as they play a key role in their careers. Arts associations, creative industry promoters and those from government ministries were also present.

The meeting was an open discussion where anyone was allowed to actively participate in a more interactive and participatory manner. One of the major concerns that were raised was the issue of the recently reviewed registration fees where most creatives cited that these are far beyond the reach of artists especially considering that they have been hard hit by Covid 19 pandemic and are still struggling to survive.

Suggestions were made on how best the artists can be assisted. The majority of the creatives indicated that the fees needed to be reviewed while a few were willing to pay them using staggered payment plans. It was interesting to note that even before the introduction of these so called exorbitant fees, there are some creatives who are said to have failed to register with the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe when the charges were quite affordable, this also brings in the question of whether they will be able to do so now, now that the fees have gone up.

Awareness training programmes are needed where artists can be taught about the importance of registering under the NACZ. These sessions will also encourage the creatives to professionalise their art which must be treated as a business with formal structures incorporated.  

A call was made on building strong and innovative infrastructure that can cater for some if not all the creative industry activities in the province for the benefit of the artists and their fans. The provision of conducive venues that are all-inclusive that can even cater for those who are not comfortable to attend shows for their favourite artists from bars was one of the suggestions made by the creatives.

Concerns were raised on how the efforts made by artists are not recognised as they feel that they are not getting the right monetary value for the services they offer. The creative industry promoters have been accused of being self-centred, focusing more on benefiting themselves at the expense of the artists who indicated that they are also in business but they are being disadvantaged and taken for granted and this kills their creativity in the process. An appeal to the arts promoters to be professional was made while at the same time the creatives were reminded that the promoters are in business as they seek to promote artists at the same time. A need to ensure that there are proper written and guiding principles was emphasized where legal structures need to be followed and highly adhered to in order to avoid instances where one complains about being short changed.

Artists have been encouraged to desist from performing for free unless if that is what they are comfortable with or perhaps they are in their early days in the profession and they need brand visibility more than money. They have been asked to monetise their art if they are to depend on it for sustenance.

Teamwork amongst the creatives for better service delivery was highly emphasised where the creatives were advised on the need to work together in making decisions that can benefit them and this can only be achieved if there is unity.

Artists have been encouraged to have managers, these are experts who will be responsible for their administrative works that they might be unable to do as they will be focusing on their performances.  This way the artists can focus more on delivering their services to the fans while all other issues are taken care of by the managers.

The creatives were enlightened on the benefits of responding to calls such as those for grant opportunities, the culture fund call was cited as one of the ways in which artists can be capacitated in order to fully implement their projects that are meant to strengthen their brands. The creatives were reminded that the call for funding for smaller grants was still open and that they must seize this opportunity to advance their careers.

The artists were urged to work closely with authorities such as NACZ and the relevant ministries responsible for their areas of specialty to get knowledge on most of the issues that they raised.

The artists raised that The NACZ office is incapacitated with human and financial resources that make it difficult for them to reach out to other districts as the focus is largely on Gwanda district instead of covering all the 7 provincial districts of Mat South.

The NACZ representatives emphasised that they are a service based entity that is not for profit making, therefore registration fees and renewal fees need to be paid so that they are able to deliver the right services to the creatives for the betterment of the creative and cultural industry in Zimbabwe where both the creatives and the organisation can be highly empowered in order to realise their full potential.