By Raisedon
Baya
“The greatness of a nation is judged by the state
of development in its arts. Neglect of the arts shows a nation in decline.”
These are words said in the late sixties by Ian Douglas Smith, the former Prime
Minister of Rhodesia. Apparently Smith had what, at least to me, seems a better
appreciation of the importance of arts and culture in nation building than the
black leaders that came after him.This might be a bitter pill to swallow for
many just like it has been hard for me to actually write the statement down on
this page, especially after all these years of independence. (It makes me look
thankless and bad.)
I have always said I don’t want to compare Ian Smith
and his racist government to any of our leaders but sometimes, maybe out of
frustration and impotent anger, I find myself doing it; comparing a painful
past and a still painful present. It is unfortunate that I seem to find good
examples in the wrong places and perhaps among wrong people. But if Smith was
able to see the importance of arts and culture in nation building half a
century years ago why hasn’t our black leaders seen the light? Why, after more
than thirty years of independence are we still not clear where to place the
nation’s arts and culture? Why do politicians and our national government
continue to trivialize arts and culture? And why do we continue to define the
arts as airport entertainment and see artists as people between jobs? In some
sectors artists have been described as mere youths out of employment!
With this kind of attitude no wonder the Arts and
Culture sector continue to be fragmented and uncoordinated, with most
disciplines run in bits and pieces and from different offices like a flea
market project. The arts and culture are the only sector run from more than 10
different offices; a major reason for the fragmentation. Honestly, we don’t
need rocket science to know that ten or more offices running various arts and
culture components and without a centre of convergence or direction is recipe
for disaster.
The history of cultural governance in Zimbabwe is
mired in uncertainty. Just look at how arts and culture has moved from one
ministry to another after most cabinet reshuffles. Since the 80s the Zimbabwean
government has been very indecisive when it comes to arts and culture. In 1983
the function of culture was moved from the ministry of education and culture to
Youth, Sports, Culture and Recreation. Then it was moved to the Ministry of Education,
Sports and Culture. Recently, as part of the inclusive government, a
fully-fledged administrative structure for Sport, Arts and Culture was setup.
This was under the new Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture. Unfortunately, the creation of the department
of Arts and Culture did not mean the end of fragmentation. The department is
not the centre of convergence. In fact the arts and culture function remain
sprinkled in several government departments, with some departments spending
more money on arts and culture than the Arts and Culture department itself. The
continued absence of structures harmonizing all institutions and departments responsible
for culture has resulted in a lot of confusion and frustrations for a lot of
artists and cultural practitioners and the stunted growth of the sector.
During a national dialogue session in Murehwa a
year or two ago Ms. Florence Mukanga – Majachani presented a research paper interrogating
issues affecting the arts and culture sector and eloquently cited little
co-ordination of the ministries, parastatals and government departments that
had anything to do with arts and culture. This fragmentation, she said, made
the design of strategic policies difficult for the short and long term. She
noted that it was very critical to create and reinforce one single entity that
would oversee the development of creative industries. According to her “the
best way is to create a single ministry of arts and culture to oversee the
proper and total development of arts and culture in Zimbabwe.”
Sure enough, the
absence of a single ministry has meant lack of domestic policies that help build the capacity
of exportable creative goods and services. It has also meant lack of access to
markets and non-competitive business practices and a generally poor
administration of the arts. Ultimately this has led to a retarded growth of the
sector. Maybe now is the time for the government to prioritise the development
of arts and culture. The creation of a single ministry would be a good and bold
step towards changing the way arts and culture is viewed, valued and managed in
this country.
Raisedon- Mfowethu ; the challenge lies with us to organise ourselves into a force to be recogned with. What do I mean? We have to organise ourselves into a think-tank that will use statistics,facts and even lead the way and play ahead of the politician for them (politicians) to listen to us. This may include multi-approaches such as using even legal avenues based on what the constitution of Zimbabwe and the cultural policy-ies of Zimbabwe say the government of the day should do to provide for the arts.
ReplyDeleteWhile I really appreciate the role/suppport of NGOs playing a role in Zimbabwe 's arts and culture sector surely our identity, dignity and sense of being, should not really be at the mercy and sympathy of outsiders? I for one do not think so.
We just had a very successful conference in the UK as part of Mporiro festival. A lot was said, great dreams and these now need to be brought into reality. I am here and willing to go.
Lucky Moyo
www.luckymoyo.com