Pay artists for their talent – Stanley

MANZINI – The Chief Executive Officer of the Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture (ENCAC), Stanley Dlamini, says that people in the arts should be paid for their talent.

Dlamini was speaking on the last day of the ENCAC arts summit, which was held at Julios Cinelux in Manzini. The summit was a twoday event that began on Thursday, March 14. His statement came as a clarification of why the summit was themed ‘‘Monetising the Arts.” Dlamini shared that the theme simply calls for all people in the arts to be paid for their talent. “The summit is provoking two things. The first is the fact that we have talent that we want to unleash, and the second is the fact that the talent that artists have has to bring them money. Our theme is mainly calling for the recognition of artists as well as their talent to be paid for. I was so excited when we were doing Ingwenyama Cup Culture; the people who were dancing are now being hired to coach teams in the regions, and they charge to do that,” Dlamini said.

Activities

He further shared that they have passed the time where they were operating according to favours when one needed help in learning any cultural activity. “We have passed the time where one would come and teach about cultural activities to a community for free.

South African actor Masoja Msiza, popularly known as Nkunzi, once said, ‘Where there is my voice, there is an invoice’. So whether you are in music, fashion, or film, we have to monetise that profession for all of our artists to be paid for their talent,” Dlamini said. The last day of the workshop also featured film, television and fashion design panellists to empower artists on how they can survive in the film and fashion industries.

The film and television panellists featured Becky Castings, actor Nqaba Tsela, producer Mike, Sakhile Shabangu and producer General, who works as an assistant director on Shaka iLembe. The film and television sessions were moderated by an experienced producer, Lusolotja.

Becky Castings talked about the importance of having a complete profile when one aims to be an actor. Becky Casting is an agency that grooms actors and further networks on their behalf to get their clients acting roles. They are based in South Africa, and during the summit, they were represented by the founder of the agency, Bekezela Dube. During her presentation, she showcased what a profile should look like and further shared that there is more action involved; it is not a profession that is easy. “Acting is not a thing that you can just dream of; it is difficult. If you have money, you need to go and learn acting; it requires one to learn.

When you are educated, there is a lot that you can do in your acting career; you will also get to learn what makes a good actor and where you can find

SEND OFF: ENCAC’s Hhansense Dlamini giving Mnation a proper send-off during the arts summit while musicians Grinder and Scuveve look on. MNation and the crew were travelling to Mozambique on Friday. The summit was briefly paused to wish them all the best on their journey. (R) ENCAC CEO Stanley Dlamini.

Film and television panellist: L - R Actor General, Becky Castings Founder Bekezela Dube, actor Nqaba Tsela, Sakhile Shabangu and producer Mike. INSET: Lusolostja moderated the film and television session during the summit.