ZIMA back after 3 years

NATIONAL Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) director Nicholas Moyo has encouraged stakeholders in the arts industry to support awards in various art genres to develop the creative sector.

The follows the return of the annual Zimbabwe Music Awards (ZIMA) to be held in January next year after a three-year sabbatical.

Speaking at the ZIMA media launch held at the awards’ office at Causeway Building, Moyo said similar awards in other arts genre would boost growth.

“I’m happy that ZIMA is back. Sector awards are detrimental in development of arts. If film had vibrant awards we would be far; if theatre had awards we would be far,” he said.

Moyo said lack of finance should not get in way of honouring artistes.

“There may never be money enough to host glamorous events but committing to hosting the awards is a huge step,” he said.

“You then knock on as many doors to raise money, your first priority being the certificates and gongs.

“Venue and entertainment budgets come later. It is better to do away with these if money doesn’t permit, you can even have the awards under a tree because what’s important is to honour artistes.”

Moyo urged artistes to submit their works as this helped them propel their careers to greater heights.

Meanwhile, ZIMA founder and chair Joseph Nyadzayo has handed over the reins to a new team led by newly appointed chief executive Reason Sibanda.

“The country needs ZIMA to happen every year. We may not have been able to have the awards every year because of the way we had configured it but I’m happy to announce that we have done it right this year. We have put together the best team possible,” said Nyadzawo.

Sibanda said his team comes with a rich experience having been part of different local and international awards ceremonies.

“This team has combined expertise gained from local and international festivals and awards such as the Bulawayo Arts Awards, Glastonbury, Mtv Africa Music Awards and the South African Music Awards,” he said.

ZIMA will open submission platforms for entry in its 32 categories on November 15 running until December 31.

“Record companies and individual artistes are required to submit entries in accordance with published rules of the Zimbabwe Music Awards.

“All recordings (singles and albums) submitted for ZIMA 2020 must have been commercially released in Zimbabwe during the period January 1 2019 to December 31 2019,” said Sibanda.