RESILIART Accelerator, a pilot project mentoring five female creatives (three from Harare and two from Bulawayo), has responded to the existing gaps in entrepreneurial skills and the need to formalise creative businesses.
The project, funded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and the Japanese embassy also addresses the persisting gender disparity in the creative industry, further worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The five female artistes selected for the pilot project are: From Harare — Nothando Chiwanga a performing artiste and photographer; Nasibo, a musician; Prudence Nyahangare, who is into visual art — while Bulawayo has Thandokuhle Sibanda, a poet; and Yolanda Ngwenya (pictured), a fashion designer.
The selected artistes started receiving mentorship from June up to this month.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday night, the project’s community manager Vera Chisvo said: “The ResiliArt Accelerator is an exciting new project hosted by Moto Republik in partnership with Unesco and the Japanese embassy.
“The project will train five women creatives from all over Zimbabwe over a six-month period in the necessary soft skills to develop their creative hustles.”
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Chisvo added: “The ResiliArt five will have coaching sessions with Zimbabwean experts, covering practical topics such as pitch, communications, marketing, financial planning and legal affairs. They will be paired with regional expert women mentors for mentorship sessions.
“The beneficiaries will share their learnings with girls and young women in their communities through an outreach component, creating a positive cascading effect that promotes creative entrepreneurship among the target groups.”