THE creative industry is lagging behind other sectors of the economy due to bureaucratic bungling within various government departments, Bulawayo artistes have said.
Arts stakeholders from Bulawayo and surrounding areas converged at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) in Bulawayo last Monday where they raised concerns during a capacity building workshop organised by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ).
Representatives from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, Zimbabwe Republic Police, and the Censorship Board attended the meeting, which was meant to bridge the gap between those in the cultural and creatives industries and relevant parastatals.
Chief among the issues discussed was employee conduct, which the artistes said hindered them from progressing.
“It’s a good start to bringing sanity to the promotion business,” Iyasa director Nkululeko Innocent Dube (pictured) told Standard Style.
“My concern, however, is that it clearly showed us there is so much ignorance and disconnection among promoters and authorities who deal with the clearance of artistes in the country.
“There is so much bias to music shows because in reality they dominate the market, but using the same template for the other genres like theatre and dance definitely hinders the progress of networking for artistes regionally and internationally.”
Dube said not all artistes that they bring into the country were high profile and as such not all shows and programmes realised profits.
Popular producer Saimon Mambazo Phiri said the meeting afforded them time to engage with the authorities.
“From my touring experience, Zimbabwe is the most difficult and bureaucratic destination for any visiting artiste and practising arts promoter,” he said.
“This can only change if we have a one-stop-shop for these legislative obligations and only after this is done, will arts promotion be vibrant and give life to the local arts industry.”
An artiste who spoke on condition of anonymity said government entities were just telling them the rules and regulations of the game.
“There is too much red tape in the industry and this doesn’t help the growth of the industry at all,” he said.
“It’s like the government is intentionally making sure the entertainment sector doesn’t grow.
“Politicians want to control the industry through the censorship systems and they make sure they charge high amounts for immigration, Zimra and other departments to make sure that the industry does not grow,”
The director of Ibhayisikopo Film Project and film producer Priscilla Sithole Ncube said government officials were looked down upon as artistes.
“We have also seen arrogance from these government institutions, especially when you tell them that you are artistes,” she said.
However, veteran playwright and Intwasa Festival director Raisedon Baya expressed satisfaction with the engagement saying it will go a long way in putting to the fore challenges that the arts sector faced.
“My appeal is that we need to create these synergies and let it not be a once-off engagement,” Baya said.
CCIs also implored the government to decentralise services for easy accessibility.
