NAMA 2010 Winners Announced
Dominic Benhura receives the Arts Service Award on behalf of Tengenenge Sculture Community. Handing him the award is Oliver Mtukudzi while Bridget Gwangwava looks on.
Over thirty artists and groups from around Zimbabwe were last night presented with awards for excelling in various disciplines in the arts. The 9th Edition of the National Arts Merit Awards held at the 7 Arts Theatre in Avondale saw Dominic Benhura, Natalie Bradbury, Josphat Somanje and Hazvinei Sakarombe leading the pack among the award winners.
Amendment of NACZ 1985 Act and what it means for the creative industries
Elvas Mari
Notes from a presentation by Mr Elvas Mari, Director of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe.
Arts & Culture Indaba 2010, Harare, 18 February 2010
Since 1985 the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) has had District Arts Councils and board members appointed by the minister country wide. However since 1998 these structures have not been functional due to the lack of funding to sustain them. At both these levels, there were no administrative staff but rather volunteers, which is an ineffectual way of running a serious administration. The national board was made up of reps from the provinces and some outside the province. The Government could not afford allowances for all these district and provincial members so from 1999 when the first 9 member board was appointed, it did not reflect what was in the Act.
In terms of changes, there has been a suggestion to cut the number of board members from 20 to 11 in which 9 should come from area of expertise, e.g. tourism, legal and the artists and those who have helped in the development of Arts. The director of NACZ is not an ex-officio board member but in practice he makes decisions. Read more
Arts Indaba Opens in Harare
Leading arts figures from around Zimbabwe have gathered for an arts & culture indaba in Harare. The indaba, organised by the British Council, the Culture Fund, UNESCO and the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe began with a keynote speech by Senator David Coltart, Minister of Education, Sport, Arts & Culture.
