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Pink Concert hangs in balance

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THE Pink Concert being organised by Afro-jazz musician Dereck Mpofu hangs in limbo amid revelations that the NACZ has advised him to register as a promoter.

THE Pink Concert being organised by Afro-jazz musician Dereck Mpofu hangs in limbo amid revelations that the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) has advised him to register as a promoter.

WINSTONE ANTONIO OWN CORRESPONDENT

The concert, aimed at saluting women and the girl child, had been slated for January 30 at Reps Theatre in Harare, running under the theme From We-men to Our Women.

Interestingly, Mpofu has organised many philanthropic concerts that include the Green Concert which saw Zahara performing in Zimbabwe at 7 Arts Theatre, Harare, in May last year, but the arts mother body had never asked him to register.

A letter written to Mpofu on January 16, by NACZ assistant director of arts and promotion Audrey Charamba read: “We acknowledged receipt of your application to host the Pink Concert featuring international artistes from Botswana.

“The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe hereby requests the Pink Concert to register as a promoter in accordance with the NACZ Act of 1985 read in tandem with Statutory Instrument 87 of 2006.” Speaking to NewsDay, Mpofu said for this concert he felt shortchanged by NACZ.

“I have no intention of becoming a promoter and as an artiste I believe defining myself as a promoter would be an injustice to what we stand for. I believe in the mandate of the NACZ in regularising arts bodies and fostering arts development in Zimbabwe we shall find a permanent solution to this including accommodating philanthropists who use arts to make a difference in the society,” Mpofu said.

Mpofu said due to time left before their initial date of the show (January 30), they had decided to postpone the concert to make efforts to clear the issue with the relevant Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture to get direction on how to host the concert.

“We have since postponed the concert to February 27, but the venue and line-up of the performers remain unchanged,” he said.

Artistes billed to perform at the concert include Albert Nyathi, Anderson Mamimine, gospel musicians Pax Gomo and Flem B who will share the stage with musicians from Botswana.

Contacted for comment, Charamba requested NewsDay to send questions in writing and by the time of going to print she had not responded to the questions.