Raisedon Baya

BULAWAYO is a multi-cultural and cosmopolitan crucible. For decades the city is known for birthing, nurturing and even exporting serious artistic talent to different parts of the world. The ultimate vision of Bulawayo Arts Awards is to position Bulawayo as a creative nexus, the entertainment industrial complex, as no other city has ingrained in it the kind of imaginative and multi-ethnic DNA the city possesses. The awards are a calendar event that follows a process of recognising and celebrating local talent in the arts sector, with the obvious spin offs being to galvanise the creative, hospitality and leisure sectors. OBJECTIVES BAA has the following objectives: 1. To cement Bulawayo’s status as a cultural hub and Zimbabwe’s cultural capital.

2. To encourage the development of standards and adoption of best practices in the creative sector.

3. To promote and celebrate outstanding effort and artistic excellence in different arts genres.

4. To unify Bulawayo’s arts sector and celebrate archievers.

5. To celebrate Bulawayo’s inclusiveness and vibrancy.

6. To audit Bulawayo’s arts sector and create professional development opportunities for creatives.

7. To create a celebrity calendar event and to curate Bulawayo’s biggest dress up event promoting fashion and local designers. EVENTS NOMINEES LUNCHEON A luncheon for nominees to be hosted by the Mayor of Bulawayo, Resident Minister and captains of industry. This will be an informal luncheon for networking, developing friendships as nominees prepare for Red Carpet and Awards Ceremony later on. RED CARPET Nominees mingle with guests, friends, and general audiences on the red carpet. This is a dress up event mainly for fashion and pictures. AWARDS CEREMONY The highlight of the day is the awards ceremony. During the ceremony outstanding artistes receive their awards. The awards ceremony features high quality entertainment by both nominees and selected artists from Bulawayo. ELIGIBILITY Any artiste born in Bulawayo and practicing his/her art anywhere in the world or any artiste born anywhere and practicing his/her art in Bulawayo is eligible. The awards also covers Matabeleland South and North. For 2018 only works done between 4 June 2017 and 2 March 2018 are eligible. IMPORTANT DATES 31 March — Nominees reveal. 1 April — public voting begins cultural diversity,