National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) director, Nicholas Moyo, has announced the removal of the media award at the National Arts Merit Awards (Nama).
Moyo told members of the press that there will not be a media category at the 22nd edition of Nama to be hosted in Bulawayo next year on February 24.
“We are now uplifting the award to be a special award, it is coming into the special award and will not be an independent category,” said Moyo.
“The focus will now remain the core business of Nama, which is to award artists. That is the major change that we will see.
"We are very grateful to the various stakeholders that have been supporting Nama over the years.
“The major stakeholders or stockholders being the artists themselves since without the artists there is no Nama.
"Those that make Nama big are the artists and they are the most important.
“Secondly, the art institutions, the various art organisations, art centers that incubate, train, and give platforms to artists to do their work.
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“As well as registered promoters, we acknowledge them for the work they have continuously done.”
The changes are a result of consultations that NACZ undertook last year when they went for meetings throughout the country consulting various stakeholders in reviewing Nama in terms of its categories.
The venue for the 22nd edition of Nama will be Hall Number 3 at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo.
Moyo expressed optimism about the future of Nama, stating that they aim to make the event bigger and better than before.
“We are looking forward to curating Nama in a way that has never been seen before," he said, adding that the decision to take Nama to Bulawayo emanated from the decision to take NAMA outside Harare.
The announcement also included details about the Nama Golf Day, which is scheduled for November 10 at the Bulawayo Golf Club.
According to Napoleon Nyanhi who is the executive director of Nama and managing director for JCMC, the event is designed to provide a platform for artists to interact with the business community.
Nama has produced a 50-minute documentary titled The Making of Nama 2023, which showcases the planning and execution of the previous year's edition themed Unlocking Dreams.
The documentary is now available for viewing on YouTube.
Entry submissions are open until November 30, with the submission period having started on December 1 of the previous year.
