By Sindiso Dube
High drama, great expectations and electrifying action were the hallmarks of the second edition of the Bulawayo Arts Festival whose curtain came down last night.
From Wednesday to last night it was jamboree of all forms of arts, including music, visual arts, comedy, dance, fashion, exhibitions and conference.
The Bulawayo Arts Festival, running under the theme Enhancing local government participation in cultural governance came on the backheels of the Bulawayo Day celebrations, an event that was held in the city on June 1 to observe the declaration of Bulawayo as a town in 1894.
For the arts industry, it was a week of pomp and fanfare spiced by the endorsement of the carnival, which is in its second year, by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Thursday.
Mnangagwa hailed the organisers for casting their net wider by including artistes from outside Bulawayo.
“This has served to showcase creative talent from beyond the boundaries of Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, itself a reflection that we are a diverse and united people, under one flag, one national anthem and a Unitary State,” Mnangagwa said when he officially opened the festival.
“Bulawayo has further demonstrated that it is a sanctuary of different cultures and traditions through exhibiting these hybrid cultural product portfolios.
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“Going forward, the development of the creative and cultural industries as well as domestic tourism remains a collective responsibility for us all, government, stakeholders and private sector.”
Mnangagwa unveiled the Heritage Corridor, toured the St Mary’s Basilica, Joshua Nkomo Museum, Natural History Museum, Inxwala Grounds, the Hanging Tree and the late vice-president Joshua Nkomo’s statue.
The Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, established in 1901 is the oldest museum and largest of the five national museums in the country.
Inxwala was an annual Ndebele religious festival, also known as the First Fruits Ceremony, to mark a time of harvest after a good agricultural season.
St Mary’s Cathedral Basilica is one of the 17 minor Basilicas in Africa and the only one conferred as such in southern Africa.
The Hanging Tree was used at the height of the First Umvukela/Ndebele uprising (Umfazo II) in 1896, to hang African men and women who resisted colonisation by the European settlers.
The Joshua Nkomo museum chronicles the life history and contribution of the late vice-president.
Festival director Simon “Mambazo” Phiri told Standard Style that the four-day arts jamboree had led the way in the reopening of the arts sector.
“The event was amazing and I didn’t expect it to be this big and being honoured by the presence of the president is amazing and also to be allowed to do things in our own way, to be allowed to perform and for them to seat and watch as we do is amazing for this sector,” Phiri said.
“If they [the government] doubted that this sector is ready to open after or during Covid-19, I think this was a good enough statement for people to say maybe the arts and the creative sector should re-open.
“The entertainment sector should open up just like commerce and other industries while we take precaution because the creatives need to survive. It’s good for this festival that it has led the way as for life after Covid-19 within the sector.
“We had great performances, especially from Black Umfolosi, they never tire and you ask yourself ‘why they are not honoured as legends.”
Mambazo was optimistic that the festival would be bigger and better, come next year.
“Our vision is to develop this festival not as slow as people think, but as fast as possible and even if we make mistakes, we will go back and correct them,” he said.
“It was a blessing in disguise that the Covid-19 pandemic allowed us more time to think, plan and execute. This is a result of work that came out of planning and listening to each other.
The four-day jamboree showcased not just arts from Bulawayo, but taped into other parts of the country such as Gwanda and Harare, in what the organisers of the event described as a move for diversity and inclusivity.
Gwanda-based artistes Zhezhingtonz, Khoi Khoi Gunz and Pamela graced the arts festival from their own town; they performed virtually from their home area of Amajaunda.
Harare-based artistes were also not to be left out of the festival which has since become a national phenomenon.
As part of the move to make it a hybrid festival, Harare-based artistes Masa Caroleen, Holy Ten, Poptain, Fusion 5 Mangwiro and Mwenje Mathola, among others also performed virtually.
Comedian Doc Vikela joined comedian Mandla Da Comedian for a live stand-up comedy show at the Bulawayo theatre on Friday night. The spoken word events also showcased Spanchi Omnyama’s versatility on stage. She is well-known for TV presenting, singing and acting but this time around she delivered poetry that left many tongue tied.
The biggest highlight of the jamboree was none other than the musical play —Songs of Lozikeyi. The musical was performed twice, on the day of the opening of the festival before Mnangagwa and on Friday night. So good and so interactive was the play that the president requested an encho.
Songs of Lozikeyi, is a collaborative effort by 21 artists, was done to celebrate Queen Lozikeyi Dlodlo. Queen Lozikeyi Dlodlo was one of Ndebele King, Lobengula’s wives, the king’s favourite wife described as beautiful and powerful.
She inspired the 1896 Anglo-Ndebele war often called the first uprising against the British colonialists.
The festival wrapped up last night with performances from songstress Masa Caroleen, Qeqeshiwe, Victor Kunonga, Travellers Band, Zhozhingtonz, Asaph, Ngoma Ingoma, Holy Ten and Madlela Sikhobokhobo, among others.
The last theatrical performances of the festival held yesterday were from Khaya Arts and Zandezi by Zimbabwe Theatre Academy.
