The Scripts and Bars Showcase scheduled for tomorrow at The Venue in Avondale, Harare, is set to be graced by some of the country’s best emerging creative talent in music and literature.

The concert and cocktail affair is part of the Scripts and Bars Accelerator Programme for creatives who have participated in the Scripts and Bars Programme, a platform where attendees will engage with the work of Scripts and Bars contributors as well as network with industry professionals and partners.

It runs under the ambit of the Creative Economy Week, which kicks off today at the Skeyi & Strobo Central Business District Market hosted at First Floor Gallery Harare.

Scripts and Bars is an exciting creative economy programme focused on enhancing the digital and business skills as well as the content creation capacity of creative professionals and organisations specialising in music and literature within Zimbabwe. The project brings together United Kingdom and Zimbabwe expertise to support partnerships and capacity development.

It wraps up on March 4 at a closed business breakfast meeting to be graced by policymakers, corporates and other stakeholders.

The event comprises exhibitions of the creatives’ work as well as performances from music and spoken word artists.

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The initiative is part of the British Council’s ongoing efforts to promote and support the creative industries in Africa. It is curated by Kay Media Africa, a local African multimedia production studio and consultancy in collaboration with Reprezent Radio, which is a youth-led radio station based in Brixton, South London.

According to Keith Kuhudzai, the managing director of Kay Media Africa, the programme “has helped creatives unlock value from their creativity through approaching their creative work as a business and connecting them to valuable partners who are supporting them to thrive”.  

The programme started in November 2021 and to date has benefited over 150 creatives from Zimbabwe and UK comprising writers, poets, music artists and DJs as well as talent managers.

Some of the creatives who have benefited from Scripts and Bars include animator Kuda Rwizi, Afro soul singer Kim Makumbe, author and poet Margaret Chideme who, through skills gained from the programme, has gone on to establish her own publishing company that helps fellow local authors publish their works internationally.

Rwizi is the creator of the graphic novel Mutupo which, through support from Scripts and Bars, gained the attention of international publishers Noire Cesar and Tokyo Pop who have secured publishing rights for the book in North America and Europe.

Makumbe, whose music has been playlisted on platforms such as Trace Africa, has previously collaborated with urban grooves artist Ex-Q on the song Mashoko available on his latest album titled Enoch.

“Scripts and Bars is testament to the fact that if young creative Zimbabweans (18–35 years old) are supported through collaborations from the UK with training on skills relevant to operating a successful creative arts business skill and availed with the right work environment, equipment, business support and mentoring, then they can improve their employability, income levels and facilitate the creation of jobs within the creative arts industry,” reads a statement released this week.

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language.