Discussing arts in diaspora with Future Moyo aka Jamelah

My article may sound rude to others but unfortunately with my limited talent , it stands as the only contribution I have for theatre lovers . When I write for marketing purposes I do sell, but when I write as an arts practitioner I take no prisoners when it comes to this protracted arts mediocrity. We cannot sit and watch whilst people are lowering the standards, we might have economic inflation but that must not mean inflation in our productions. Hence I have decided to run a weekly column here to try and help other fellow artists to realise that our clapping at theatres doesn't mean satisfaction. So here I will try by all means to write in more simpler terms for the sake of propagating this information.

If I were to describe the performances I have watched there so far, I would say Hillbrow is the only place i know where :

 artists instead of getting performance allowances have to pay out for their programme slot.
 there are no arts promoters registered with either NACZ or NACSA
 arts associations' place have been taken over by the forums .
 there is so much gap between artists and arts authorities
 marketing means posting on Facebook and other social networks
 there is no professional management, when you need a Disc or anything you must call the composer straight
 audiences can clap not for your impact but for an overdue substitution, yet those particular artists call each other with war names as if there are in a warfare
 most budding artist are anti-workshops yet you cannot even Google search them
 me-too type of artists are mushrooming every hour only to fade out by virtue of meaningless squabbles
 event management is very poor, infact everyone has something to say but nothing to do

I sometimes ask myself why should I come and watch 'uSekazibani or unakaZibani' walking on stage whereas the MC had said we are to see a poet ? Others go on stage as dancers only to see people shaking and busy watching each other at every turn on stage. Infact choreography is a word that has no space in Hillbrow so far, serve only for few bands and those bands will be Rhumba groups, hence their shows are always full despite the ticket price of R100-200. I have personally seen street theatre on a proscenium stage. Only a few artists can tell you about proper lighting, stage management, sound and costume.

The person you meet on street is exactly the same person you pay to see on stage, with that very same clothing, same tone, same everything, then why paying to watch everyday life on stage? The same DVD you buy is the same that will try to enact on stage, then you ask yourself is this a live performance or repeat movie? Suddenly you realise that you have made a wrong turn by coming there yourself.

From other performances you can tell that this person discovered his or her talent soon after jumping the border gate or after being fired from work .

At this point some might misunderstand me and are ready to quote me, I am not saying artists n diaspora are not talented! Talent is there, there is no doubt about that. What is not there is professionalism, starting from production to event management. If only that talent could meet proper management and marketing , then our fellow artists will be employed by their own talents. So far most of them are still masters of their productions but also slaves of their own talents and delusional celebrity tags.

We support these productions just because there are from our fellow brothers and sisters but not because they are worthy our time before even we can talk about cash.

Yes ,we might be marginalised in many forms but come on fellows, some of these things need strategy. Let us respect our art and start professionalising our business for greater benefits.

Others always cry foul over sponsorship, "NACZ does not sponsor us", the same old slogan goes on, but does that artist really understand the role and place of NACZ in arts industry? Do you even belong to an arts association dear? Have you ever heard of Culture Fund of Zimbabwe trust? Do you know where the minister of arts is? Do you what you must request and from which office exactly?

Fellow readers allow me to end here for this week, next week I will come and further elaborate on my rhetoric questions. For now I want to go for a photo shoot so that I will qualify to discuss about the importance of quality HD photos in arts and events in general.

Future Moyo is a former high school History and literature teacher, former Festival Director, now a film actor, choreographer, poet, manager of different artists, a scriptwriter, a member of University of Zimbabwe's Indigenous African languages Association editors ,a research and marketing Consultant by profession.



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