THE Almasi Collaborative Arts' inaugural festival, Africa Voices Now!, which was recently held in Harare, marked a historic moment in Zimbabwe's arts scene.
Zaza Muchemwa, Almasi’s deputy director, told NewsDay Life & Style that the event will be held annually, adding that the festival represented Almasi's strategic transformation.
“After 13 years dedicated to private intensive training, this event serves as the organisation’s 'public coming out party' to showcase the developed, world-class African talent,” she said.
“The experience aims to combine intensive training with public exhibition. The core narrative emphasises bringing the African narrative to the global stage and operating under the founding principle ‘Learning never ends’.
“These plays have been in development for over a year and are a testament to how much talent we have in Zimbabwe that just needs to be nurtured and developed. We hope to demonstrate that the arts have the potential to offer legitimate, sustainable career pathways for talented, committed Zimbabweans.”
Muchemwa added that the core mission of Almasi is bringing the African narrative to the global stage and the objectives for the inaugural festival included generating significant public awareness about the talent on the Zimbabwean arts scene, highlighting the work Almasi is doing to elevate the arts sector and giving practical examples of how art is a viable career path for creatives.
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Almasi Collaborative Arts is known for fostering creative collaboration between local and international artists. According to Muchemwa, the global connection was primarily established through the foundational training intensives held immediately preceding the festival. These intensives featured world-renowned American theatre professionals. The Acting Intensive (September 2-20, 2025) was led by Yale School of Drama professor and Actor Peter Francis James.
The Directing Intensive (September 3-13, 2025) was led by Tony Award-winning director and playwright Emily Mann. The Stage Management Intensive (September 15-27, 2025) was led by Miranda Mikolaizik. The involvement of such decorated international artists lends significant weight and global credibility to the festival and its participants.
Residents lauded the festival as a breath of fresh air on the arts scene. Asked what specific moments or highlights best captured this community spirit, Muchemwa said: “These moments of community are visible every night as we see our diverse audiences interacting at the plays — particularly at our Chill Zone, which features performances and music before and after the show. We have also been blessed by several incredible sponsors who have given us equipment, radio airtime, food, beverages, a tent, lighting, and so much more. To see people giving at a time when our economy makes it difficult is incredibly humbling.”
On the lessons learnt in hosting the event, Muchemwa said, “Zimbabwe is truly in its golden age of theatre and we are incredibly excited to see how the space continues to develop”.
“There is so much potential in this country and audiences in Zimbabwe are eager to support the arts,” she said.