American cultural experience

BEING accepted as a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow could not have come at a more opportune time. As manager of Amagugu International Heritage Centre, a fledgling community-based tourism enterprise in rural Matobo, the desire to enhance my professional growth and institutional impact was always a top priority. I am generally well travelled but the United States of America had remained as that one elusive destination. To my delight, that is not the case anymore.

For proper perspective, the Mandela Washington Fellowship is part of the United States of America President Barack Obama’s Young African Leadership Initiative that empowers young people through academic coursework, leadership training and networking. A total of 1 000 young people aged between 25-35 from Sub-Saharan Africa were attached to 39 American universities for a period of six weeks. In the seventh week, all Mandela Fellows converged in Washington DC for a three-day summit whose highlight was an encounter with President Barack Obama.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship is inspired by the leadership legacy of the late South African President and anti-apartheid stalwart Nelson Mandela. The spirit of ubuntu as was propagated by Nelson Mandela runs through the whole fellowship experience.

As a creative practitioner, I was particularly delighted to have been attached to Wagner College in Staten Island, New York. Staten Island is one of the five boroughs of New York City with the other four being Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn and the most popular Manhattan.

Without doubt, New York is one of the entertainment capitals of the world. It is in New York where you find Broadway Street. I grew up knowing that the best of theatre productions are shown on Broadway but here I was, walking on Broadway Street on a daily basis. Talk of dreams coming true! It is the part of Broadway between 42nd and 53rd streets — including Times Square — that is considered the home of the American theatre industry. The theatre district is home to 40 large professional theatres with a seating capacity of at least 500 people. I learnt that in 2010, Broadway shows sold more than $1 billion in tickets. For perspective, our 2016 national budget is $4 billion. The longest running musical in Broadway history is the Phantom of the Opera which opened in 1986 and is still running to date.

Shows at Broadway don’t come cheap. I got to watch Shuffle Along, a musical comedy whose tickets ranged from $60-$300. There were also shows that had been sold out for the next three years. Merchandising is also big business. The theatre show I watched, Shuffle Along, had merchandise in the form of plastic water bottles, caps and t-shirts among many other forms of memorabilia. Corporate endorsements also add to the viability of productions. Most importantly, the average American appreciates the value of art and are very supportive of artistic productions. This is further complemented by readily available disposable income. I now appreciate what is meant by the expression creative industry — the American theatre industry is enormous in terms of quality, quantity and commercial value of productions.

Summer is highly appreciated in the USA. The hot and sunny days are a celebrated departure from the cold winter season. A comprehensive summer arts programme is curated by the City Parks Foundation which manages all recreational parks in New York City. Almost on a daily basis, a range of free and paid shows are organised across the five boroughs of New York City. I was delighted to watch Femi Kuti on stage in Brooklyn. However, the highlight of my entertainment experience was when I watched Trevor Noah live on stage. Here was one of my African comedy heroes whom I had never watched perform live but got to do so in New York. Stuff that dreams are made of! Trevor was at his usual best and had the audience in stitches throughout his whole set. I can boldly declare that there is no way you can get bored in New York in summer!

Memorialisation is a highly practiced form of preserving history and culture. Even sad American history is also memorialised. I visited the September 11 Memorial Museum where the story of the bombing of the twin towers in New York City in 2011 is told. Bad historical experiences ought to be documented and used as learning experiences to influence a peaceful and progressive future.

As a history fanatic, I also got to visit local museums and art galleries. New York City has hundreds of art galleries and museums all with a different niche. You will find museums for children, Afro-Americans, Indian-Americans among many other categorisations. All museums characteristically have extensive incorporation of information communication technology. Our history doesn’t change but the same story can be told differently.

As aforementioned, to cap the six weeks fellowship was a Presidential Summit in Washington DC. It was at that point that all the 1 000 Mandela Fellows were able to meet in the same space. It was enlightening to engage other creative practitioners from different countries and get to appreciate the dynamics of their respective creative sectors. I am proud to belong to a network of young Africans who are committed to contribute towards making Africa a prosperous continent. As the 2016 cohort of Mandela Washington Fellows, we hold on to the glory of being the last group to dialogue with the first black President of the USA in his last year in office.

The biggest lesson, perhaps more of a reminder, from my American cultural experience is that Zimbabwean art and culture will only thrive through solid support by central Government, local authorities and the private sector. It requires a stable macro-economic environment, positive attitudes, conducive policy and legislative framework for the creative sector to thrive. Collaborations between and among artistes are also important so as to leverage scarce resources and maximize on our diverse talents.

I have since returned to my everyday realities in Zimbabwe albeit armed with new skills, knowledge and networks which I will endeavour to put to good use in strengthening the cultural heritage preservation and promotion work that I do at Amagugu International Heritage Centre.

Butholezwe Kgosi Nyathi is Programs Manager at Amagugu International Heritage Centre and is a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow. Email — info@ amaguguheritage.org