AS we celebrate New Year today, the major thrust is on making lists of resolutions for 2013, but the temptation of looking back at events of the year gone by is irresistible.
Report By Entertainment Reporters
The local arts industry had its share of successes, failures, heartbreaks, controversies and sad stories.
Below, we look at some of the arts genres and events that shaped their landscapes in 2012. Music
On the musical front we bade farewell to one of the greatest musicians of our time, Andy Brown, who died in March. Today we get solace in his daughter Ammara who looks destined for dizzy heights. We also had a number of new releases that include superstar Oliver Mtukudzi’s Sarawoga, which has been received quite well. Alick Macheso also released his Kwatabva Mitunhu (Kure Kwekure) which, unfortunately, was received with mixed feelings and for some reasons, and quite naturally, has been compared and contrasted with Sulumani Chimbetu’s Syllabus. Sulu’s album is doing well. Blessing Shumba also released a new album Shongwe, but unfortunately for him, he has been backstabbed by his producer who has produced a new artiste Mathius Mhere who is already outshining Shumba with the album Anoita Minana. Fungisai Zvakavapano- Mashavave has also released a new album titled Wenyasha Ndewenyasha that is still to be felt on the market, while Nicholas Zakaria’s Kurapa Nemanzwi is doing well. There are also new artistes like Shingirai Tapomwa whose album Baba Tinotenda is no push over. The country played host to a number of foreign artistes like P Square that did a good job on their tour. Jamaican star Capleton made a good return, while also from Kingston town (Jamaica) came Mavado and Agent Sasco who had commendable outings. Zimbabwe had a double bill of Zahara who came earlier in the year for a two-legged tour of Harare and Bulawayo and played at the Victoria Falls Carnival on her third return to the country. Leaving out the Tuku @ 60 gig would be unfair as the superstar of Zimbabwean music celebrated his birthday in style in front of a record crowd making it by any standards the best gig of the year. Towards year-end there was a battle for crowds between the “Last Gig” and “Shut Down”, but both received appropriate responses although the former had a bigger crowd.
Theatre
Theatre has equally been eventful, but first it is sad that in a single year we have had to bid farewell to the doyen of local arts Walter Muparutsa and his son and journalist Taka Cledywin who was instrumental in a number of productions. They both succumbed to cancer. Actor Sebastian Maramba also died this past year and that has left a dark cloud on the sector. Tafadzwa Muzondo’s play No Voice, No Choice was banned under unclear circumstances, while another production titled The Coup suffered a similar fate. Stephen Chifunyise remains the most consistent playwright locally and has to be commended for the good work he did in theatre this year. Rockford Josphats made a surprise appearance at Theatre in the Park for the play Roki and Maneta. We witnessed the showing of two South African plays Itsoseng and Ten Bush which had successful runs. It was sad that lack of co-operation impacted negatively on theatre lovers after producers Daves Guzha and Peter Churu haggled and for some lame reason failed to show Vaclav Havel’s play Audience as scheduled.
Dance
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The dance sector had sad moments after Apama Dance Group lost two of its members in an accident. However, to bring smiles on dancers’ faces is the reconstruction of the Ballet Centre that resumed last year. The roof of the centre collapsed in 2011. The dance sector also witnessed the growth of pole dancing that was popularised by Beverly Sibanda and Zoey Sifelani. Zoey and Bev grabbed headlines when they were arrested for indecent exposure because of their semi-nude styles. They were released after a few days. Dance group Magesh was honoured at Star Brite for good choreography and a number of dance groups are doing well at various venues around the country.
Radio, Film and Television
The licensing of ZiFM Stereo and Star FM has brought competition on local airwaves. Unfortunately, one of the new radio personalities, Tinopona Katsande, grabbed headlines when she was allegedly assaulted by her boyfriend. Her story was similar to a television scene at Big Brother Africa when our representatives Roki and Maneta fought in the house and were disqualified. Locally-produced film The Gentleman has been doing well internationally and has bagged a number of awards. Film festivals went on a low note in 2012.
Visual Arts
Zimbabwean artist/photographer, Nancy Mteki, was the youngest of the participants at the 2012 Dakar Biennale. The DAK’ART Biennale, which was held in Dakar, Senegal, ranfrom May 11 to June 10 saw Mteki exhibiting a series of photographs that depict the abuse and harassment that women endure daily when using public transport, in particular kombis/taxis in Zimbabwe. The series was first exhibited in Harare at the Gwanza Month of Photography last year. Generally, visual artists continue to be under a shadow since the decline of tourism more than a decade ago. A few artists went for international exhibitions, but local activity has been low. The National Gallery of Zimbabwe held a number of exhibitions, as did Gallery Delta and other galleries around the country. Gallery Delta, however, faced viability problems that threatened it. Chapungu Sculpture park was put under liquidation in a sad development for the industry.
