Festival to strengthen artistic creativity

THE Savanna Trust will be hosting the inaugural Accel Zw theatre festival themed Inspire from April 4 to 6 at the Jasen Mphepo Little Theatre and University of Zimbabwe in Harare.

Festival coordinator Teddy Mangawa told NewsDay Life & Style that the idea of the festival came during the implemention of the Accel zw project under Creative Action, which seeks to strengthen the creative capabilities of practitioners in the the country’s cultural and creative industry.

“The project was created to strengthen the capacities of young groups and creative practitioners from marginalised, rural and urban communities to create high-quality artistic work and leverage the expansion of digital platforms to market, distribute and monetise their artistic work,” Mangawa said.

The festival, set to run each year, will involve various activities, ranging from a conference or seminar with the country’s prominent academic minds in the arts, knowledge and skills exchange workshops and theatrical plays from emerging and professional companies.

“The festival is designed to create a platform and opportunity for theatre groups that have been trained through the project to present their plays for the audience, at the same time adjust to other selected seasoned productions from professional organisations and individuals around the country and beyond. Workshops and conferences will also be part of this year’s festival as they will contribute to the bigger vision of having highly skilled professionals in the sector,” he said.

The event will also host industry giants from neighbouring African countries such as South Africa and Zambia.

Savanna Trust was established in 2006 as a non-profit organisation. The organisation has used mainstream theatre, radio drama, video production, arts festivals, training and development programmes and other forms of creative expression to promote awareness and consciousness of social development issues.