BY TINASHE MUCHURI
NATIONAL Arts Council of Zimbabwe (Nacz) director Nicholas Moyo said there was need to industrialise the creative sector so that it contributes to the country’s economic development.
Moyo told NewsDay Life & Style on the sidelines of the official launch of the Zimbabwe Culture Week by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Harare on Saturday that industrialisation was the answer to many of the problems bedeviling the creative sector.
“The arts or the creative industry needs to be industrialised. Let’s define the value chain of the creative sector. We need to identify it and be clear. When we identify it. It means we know the players. When we know who the players are, we look at the factors that will enhance the creativity of that sector or the creation in that sector,” Moyo said.
The Nacz boss said it would be essential to address the sector’s productive line, including access to raw materials as well as the product distribution network.
“When we talk about the distribution of the products, we talk about how other players like the radio stations who are consuming as distributors are able to own up to what they are supposed to pay,” he said.
“Issues of royalties and piracy come into play because if we are running a country that does not address distribution agents, that’s when you have books and CDs sold on the streets.”
Moyo added that the next stage would be to harness the consumption patterns of the various products in the creative sector and pave way for industrialisation where players then quantify how much the sector would bring into the mainstream economy.
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He said the country’s economic challenges had negatively impacted the arts and culture sector.
“All this is happening against the backdrop of a depressed economy. This is why the President was saying there is need to resuscitate the economy.
“It’s an acknowledgment that there are challenges. The President thinks the sector can play an economic role,” he said.
The culture week will run until May 25 under the theme, African Royalty: Our Heritage.
Moyo said the new education curriculum presented a “golden opportunity” to stakeholders as it dealt extensively with issues of arts, culture and heritage in schools.
“That’s where the gold is. Let’s ensure as a nation that there is full implementation of the component of arts, culture and heritage in the curriculum. It will answer the issues that we are talking about in about 15 years from now,” he said.
