ART, CULTURE AND TOURISM IN ZIMBABWE

By Fungai Hamilton Mudzengerere

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country with diversity of wildlife, tourist attractions and culture. Lying in the southern part of Africa, the country is known for its Victoria Falls which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Tourists flock into the country from all over the world to have the eye-catching natural beauty of the country, state of art exhibitions and the second to none undiluted art and culture of Zimbabwe. Many national and international indicators suggest that tourists are increasingly less interested in resorts and destinations and are more interested in environmental, cultural, heritage, ethnic and historical features. Thus tourists are not simply looking for entertainment, but are more attracted to culture, art and heritage. Travel, Tourism and Art is one of the world’s largest industries which create jobs and promote sustainable livelihoods across the nations and must be promoted so that it is well established. Art promotes fun, freedom and fulfilment of people’s lives. There is no way in which art can be separated from tourism especially at the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly in Victoria Falls 2013.

A partnership between the representatives in the art industry, tourism officials and the government is necessary in promoting art, culture and tourism. Since art depicts the culture of the country, innovativeness is very crucial in coming up with excellent presentations and exhibitions which says it all. When tourists come, they would want to visit cultural organizations to experience these art forms when they travel. Heritage sites and museums, along with theatres and other performing arts venues, are a significant reason why tourists visit the major urban areas, rural areas and resorts towns. Art from Zimbabwe started long back with rock paintings by the San people who used the rock faces and caves across the country. Today art in Zimbabwe include stone sculptures, wood carvers, landscape and wildlife painters, photographers, singers and dancers. The main reason of having music festivals or major art exhibitions is to attract tourists to visit an area.

Marginalised groups must be represented and these include women, children and the physically challenged. Art is the voice of the voiceless. To foster Zimbabwean culture through art and tourism, we need to consider the following core values:

• Honest
• Smartness
• Respect
• Tolerance
• Multi-cultural awareness

Organisations in art must work with communities in a way to promote tourism as culture makes a crucial part of tourism. Cultural activities and art are of great interest to people and that is why they play a crucial role in tourism. Tourism is about exposing art to the visitors and in most cases the visitors are not familiar with our culture here in Zimbabwe, hence it is the duty of the artists to provide the information through performance and exhibitions so that the visitors can understand and enjoy the experience.

For tourists to visit an area the traditional marketing process is crucial and this involves factors like social, political and the legal environment which attracts the visitors. Some artists are talented but they lake the communication skill and experts in the fields of administration and marketing can be used to effectively market the talents as well as the country through art, culture and tourism, but without robbing the artists of their work and proceedings.

When families are coming for exhibitions and art presentations, usually they come as a family and hence artists must make it a point that all age groups are catered for to make it exciting for the whole family.

 

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