We the managers and
representatives of the undersigned cultural festivals gathered in Harare, Zimbabwe
on the occasion of the Zimbabwe Festival Workshop (26th-28 June 2013)
wish to express our gratitude to Nhimbe Trust the
convener of the workshop and the International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD)
of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
for funding the workshop on the capacity building of managers of cultural
festivals in Zimbabwe. We also recognize the valuable collaboration, guidance and
participation of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe in hosting a success workshop.
We recognize the importance of the UNESCO Convention on the
Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions that
encourages the growth of regional and national markets for creative goods and
services. We are convinced that this successful workshop for festival managers
is an important national effort in the implementation of the 2005 Convention.
We believe that the growth of arts and culture networks and
associations in Zimbabwe over the last decade has impacted positively in
sharing of information, building capacity, creating more opportunities for
artists to participate more effectively in advocacy and lobbying for enabling environments
that support the flourishing of cultural festivals at national, regional and
international levels.
We note with concern ,the presence of administrative, social, economic
and political factors that have impacted negatively on the
development of the Zimbabwean cultural
sector in general and the viability and
sustainability of cultural festivals in particular during this decade .
We are delighted to note that the new Constitution of Zimbabwe that upholds cultural rights of
all the people has created opportunities for the review and reform of
cultural governance frameworks that guarantee the full potential of cultural
industries and the harnessing of the
rich diversity of cultural expressions for social and economic development of
all communities in Zimbabwe.
We have been made aware, during this workshop of the relative
isolation in which festivals in Zimbabwe operate and have noted the need for festival managers to share ideas, knowledge and experiences as
well as the need for critical, personal and professional skills development in
the Zimbabwean creative and cultural sector as a whole.
We believe that festivals are
both key markets in themselves for Zimbabwean artists and creative goods as
well as being vital platforms to projecting Zimbabwean artists and their work
into global markets.
We also believe that the Zimbabwean creative sector should take
greater responsibility for its own sustainability; that there is much that Zimbabwean festivals can
learn from each other in order to improve their own governance, programming,
fundraising, marketing and management and that festivals can have a positive
impact in addressing some of Zimbabwe’s key development, such as rapid urbanization,
growing youth unemployment, dwindling opportunities, wealth creation, while being vital vehicles for promoting and defending human rights,
facilitating social cohesion and inclusions and fuller participation of
the people in their cultural life.
We recall that cultural festivals should be considered as enablers
of communal celebration, wellspring of creativity and vehicle for
intergeneration and transmission of cultural heritage as articulated in the
UNESCO 2003 Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
and as inherent in the programmes of the Zimbabwe National Intangible Cultural Heritage
Committee.
We THEREFORE resolve to establish
the Zimbabwe Festivals Network as a major result of this Workshop. The Zimbabwe
Festivals Network is a professional association with the Objectives to:
·
Network Zimbabwean festivals operating within and across various
genres in order to share knowledge, expertise,
programming content and best practice experience;
·
Consolidate and expand existing circuits and to develop and
promote new circuits of discipline-based and multi-disciplinary and regionally
based festivals as a means of distributing Zimbabwean creative work and
providing longer income-generating opportunities for artists;
·
Build and consolidate financial, organisational and leadership
capacity within Zimbabwean festivals in order to ensure their effectiveness and
sustainability;
·
Promote and defend freedom of creative expression in Zimbabwe;
·
Help market Zimbabwean festivals nationally, regionally and
internationally both as platforms for Zimbabwean creative expression, but also
to increase markets and own-income for such festivals;
·
Advocate and lobby on behalf of Zimbabwean festivals for an enabling environment that supports the flourishing of cultural
festivals;
·
Seek and promote mutually beneficial international partnerships
for Zimbabwean cultural festivals;
·
Research and provide information, tools and ideas that will
enhance Zimbabwean cultural festivals.
We also resolve that:
·
An Interim
Steering Committee elected today from representative of festivals gathered
here today, shall govern and lead the Zimbabwe Festivals Network
for the next two years in pursuit of the
agreed objectives and to take
further action to implement the
recommendations arising out of this
workshop which shall be contained in the Report of the Worksop;
·
The interim Steering Committee should proceed to consider such matters as
the establishment of organisation’s location
, composition and functions;
·
The interim Steering Committee to
finalise the constitution of Zimbabwe Festivals Network of whose draft is also
a result of the workshop;
·
The Interim Steering Committee should
embark on a membership drive and to engage registered members in contributing,
in whichever ways, to grow the effectiveness and sustainability of the Network.
The
Steering Committee of ZFN elected on this day comprises the following:
1. Intwasa Arts Festival Runyararo
Mutandi
2.
Rainbow Province Arts Festival Page
Konnesh
3.
Dzimbahwe Arts Festival Brian Banda
4.
HIFA Maria
Wilson
5.
Zimbabwe International Film Festival Trust Nigel Munyati
Participants: Zimbabwe Festival
Managers Workshop
Festival Name of Representative
1. Intwasa Arts Festival Runyararo Mutandi
2.
Rainbow Province Arts Festival Page Konnesh
3.
Zimbabwe International Film Festival Trust Nigel Munyati
4.
Dzimbahwe Arts Festival Brian Banda
5.
HIFA Maria Wilson
6.
Kumakomoyo Arts Festival (Kafest) Thandani Ndlovu
7.
Rushinga Arts Festival (RAAF) Mapfumo Zvenyika
8.
International Images Film Festival for Women Yvonne
Jila
9.
Macfest Zimbabwe Joe
Wailer
10.
Zimbabwe Youth Festival Ashton Bumhura
11.
Murewa Uzumba Pfungwe
Cultural Festival (MUCUF)-Cynthia
Mungofa
12.
Mbende Jerusalem Festival Ronald
Diza
13.
Jikinya Dance Festival Caroline
Makoni
14.
Protest Arts International Festival Margaret Mutsamvi
15.
Great Limpopo Cultural Fair Manatsa
Kuzomuka
16.
Bulawayo Culture Festival Butshilo
Nleya
17.
Flame of Jahunda Brian
Ndlovu
18.
Shangano Arts Festival Petros
Ndhlovu
19.
Ibumba Festival Saimon
Mambazo
In CONCLUSION, we invite festival
managers who were not able to attend this workshop to express their views of
the results of this workshop, and to interact with the undersigned festivals
concerning this Press Release and contents of the workshop, which will be
extensively distributed to festivals managers and national associations of
cultural operators, public cultural institutions, the mass media and
international arts and cultural associations and networks.
