RISING jester Tinaye Wayne Chiketa said there was an urgent need for significant funding and incubation programmes to boost growth as well as quality of comedy productions in the country.
BY KENNEDY NYAVAYA
Over the years, comedy in its various forms has proven to be the much-needed therapy for ordinary citizens in Zimbabwe who have been facing a wide range of socio-economic challenges.
In an interview with NewsDay Life & Style, yesterday Tinaye said a recent trip to Kenya gave him an understanding of how progress had been comparatively slower in Zimbabwe despite immense talent.
“The two things drawing us back relate to a lack of financing for the arts sector and something to do with the fact that we treat arts as an afterthought. In addition to that our model for art, talent incubation leaves a lot to be desired,” he said.
Describing the trip as whirlwind, Tinaye said the tour awakened his creative instinct and showed him how tolerance of diversity could help a society flourish in different aspects of life.
“For me the collective warmth of the people truly inspired my person and stretched my imagination that if we sacrifice a bit of our routines, a bit of our inner pride, a bit of our totems and tribes, then we can make the world a fertile space for the creative intuition of others to flourish,” he said.
“In Kenya, satirical comedy, even that which mocks and questions the ruling establishment gets to be beamed on national television. They have embraced comedy as that special form of art, with a unique ability to package the most sensitive political ambiguities of the day, in a way that invokes robust debate among citizens that then results in a cocktail of alternative propositions that strengthen the nation State.”
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Tinaye pleaded with the arts sector to desist from sweating in their own silos, but speak with one voice on issues pertaining to the development of various forms of art.
“Artists are not speaking as a collective, but this is something that could potentially improve their resource purse given the fact that government financing, which is more sustainable, always gets directed to a certain cause after some concerted collective advocacy,” he said.
The tour was facilitated by Creative South, an African network of creative hubs that focuses on building touring circuits in the region.
Moto Republik, in collaboration with Creatives Garage, a creative hub in Nairobi, Kenya supported Tinaye and female jester Munyaradzi Guramatunhu to travel to the East African country where they undertook many activities to enhance their work. Follow Kennedy on Twitter @ken_nyavaya
