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Artistes cry out for space
The Financial Gazette (Zimbabwe)
August 07, 2008

http://allafrica.com/stories/200808080553.html

Artistes in Zimbabwe have been urged to safeguard the little space that still exists for them in the country.
Corina Straatsma, Hivos director, said the space for independent and democratic voices was fast shrinking and being replaced with a culture of intolerance.

She said: "It is sad that the whole country has recently been engulfed in political violence. We all witnessed this."

Straatsma was speaking during a Hivos arts and culture conference in Harare that brought together musicians, actors, writers, producers and journalists to deliberate on "Expression Under Repression, Expression in Restricted Spaces".

Musician Paul Brickhill said a number of artistes had fled the country because of their outspoken work.
Renowned Chimurenga musician Thomas Mapfumo and Chenjerai Hove, a writer, were cited as having left the country while it was in deep crisis.

Brickhill said: "Some of the artistes are doing extremely well while others have failed to live up to expectations. Others have completely left the arts to join other professions."

Shepherd Mutamba, a media practitioner, said artistes producing critical works should forget about having any space in the state media.

"I do not see the broadcasting policy changing. Forget it, just forget it. The space can only come after a new political dispensation in the country. As it stands now, artistes have to find ways to reach their targets."

Cont Mhlanga, theatre producer and director, said he can show some of his plays in Bulawayo only after getting police clearance.

"The little space we create for ourselves is being closed as police demand to edit our work. The media is closed to us and now they want to close all the other open spaces."

Chirikure Chirikure, a poet and writer, said it was important for the arts industry to come together and map out ways to create the necessary space. In the absence of independent radio and television, it was difficult for artistes to market their work.

Chirikure said: "We have to find ways to market our products and we would like to involve the media in our marketing."

Filmmaker and author Tsisti Dangarembga said she was aware of repression in the 1970s as she grew up and it was disheartening to see it coming back again decades later.

She said: "During the liberation struggle I witnessed repression and now we are going back to those days when artists were forced to restrain, to keep under."

Dangarembga said artists were always calling for change and this led to confrontation with governments. She called for tolerance:

"Expression and tolerance are key when operating under repression."

Peter Rorvik from the Centre for Creative Arts in Durban, South Africa, said artistes were visionaries who sometimes demanded change.

He said: "Artistes speak against power and demand a change of governments."

Rorvik urged Zimbabwean artists to create space for themselves as the situation in the country demanded creative and innovative minds.

"Festivals are important in that artists can showcase some of the works which hardly get promoted in the mainstream media."

Under repression, artists could do well if they participated in smaller festivals as these reached wider audiences.

Actor and producer Daves Guzha said it was difficult to perform in hostile environments."We have theatre halls all over the country, but do artistes have the resolve to perform in these areas? Sometimes artistes felt it was better to perform under the cushion of festivals."

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