Zim@40: Defining Byo as a cultural capital

Cultural evolution of Bulawayo

AS an evolving contemporary city, Bulawayo has a solid cultural foundation whose genesis is traced to the founding of Old Bulawayo by King Lobengula in 1870. Music and dance were key components of traditional ceremonies such as Inxwala Festival. Beyond ceremonies, culture had a distinct and important role in shaping and defining the social order in its familial and community representations. Through time and space, indigenes in Bulawayo have retained a high sense of cultural consciousness and exceptionalism.

Centering culture in national discourse Zimbabwe’s attainment of 40 years of Independence coincides with improved Executive understanding of the role of the Creative and Cultural Industries (CCIs) in supporting economic development and social cohesion. Captains of the creative industries and cultural operators in Bulawayo had the rare and unprecedented opportunity in November 2019 to engage the President of Zimbabwe and selected Cabinet Ministers in a dialogue that centred the concerns and desires of the CCIs.

The engagement produced an action matrix which is an outline of required policy, legislative and administrative cross disciplinary structural reforms. Full realisation of the action matrix provisions will significantly enhance the ease of doing business in the CCIs.

With Bulawayo playing host to the very first edition of Independence celebrations held outside Harare, cultural operators in the city have an obligation to demonstrate in practice the widely held and propagated sentiment that the city is the cultural capital of Zimbabwe. That Independence celebrations have been curated around the arts enhances the profile of the CCIs and indicates progress in as far as mainstreaming the arts in the national agenda is concerned. With creatives having made a public request for declaration of Bulawayo as Zimbabwe’s cultural capital, the creative diversity of the city must be on spectacular show. After all, there is a captive power bearing and decision-making audience in the form of bureaucrats and politicians who will congregate in the City. Beyond the official independence celebrations arts programme, there is a need for more independent initiatives that will singularly and collectively showcase Bulawayo’s creative capabilities.

Zimbabwe Creative Cities Agenda Globally, cities are enclaves of economic activity and Zimbabwe’s cities are no exception. As Zimbabwe turns 40, there is a need for a deliberate structural shift in the positioning of cities as vectors of not only economic activity but also creative expression and diversity. It is on this premise that l advance the need for development of a national creative cities agenda. This is a process that inherently requires local authorities to be actively involved in the development and promotion of the CCIs. This argument is advanced on the basis that local authorities are the closest governance unit to the people and best positioned to facilitate democrat i sation of culture. Local authorities also have community facilities in residential areas and these are convenient as performance and exhibition spaces. Budget wise, cities can also commit resources to the arts as part of social well-being of communities. The opportunity pull factor in cities also makes them havens for talent. In the past, the City of Bulawayo had a vibrant arts and recreation programme in youth centres which was financed by royalties from beer sales. Such programmes unearthed some of the best talent and allowed residents to participate in the cultural life of their city. In the era of Sustainable Development Goals, culture is acknowledged as an enabler in attaining safe, inclusive and resilient cities.

Furthermore, with Government in 2018 having adopted a policy of provinces building brands around their competitive advantages, Bulawayo as both a Province and city is best positioned to advance culture for place and space branding. Advancing culture does not suggest that the CCIs are the most vibrant sector in the local economy; it simply means we are a people proud of their history and heritage and are willing to be regionally and internationally recognised for our creative excellence. Having adopted a cultural policy and established an arts office, it is plausible that the City of Bulawayo has been one of the most pro-active cities in terms of cultural advancement. Notable is that the City will in June 2020 launch the Bulawayo Arts Festival and Bulawayo Day. These are significant milestones and evidence of a city ready and willing to promote and develop arts, culture and heritage.

The advancement of a Zimbabwe Creative Cities Agenda is a central government function after which local authorities should provide active leadership at implementation level. Technical support will be provided by public and private cultural institutions.

Defining Bulawayo

Cultural Capital

While Bulawayo has traditionally and historically always had a heightened sense and expression of cultural consciousness, there is an apparent need for empirical justification in the contemporary sense of why the city must be proclaimed Zimbabwe’s cultural capital. To the extent that policy follows practice, there is a need for empirical validation to the proclaimed qualitative and quantitative competitiveness and superiority of Bulawayo’s CCIs. To this end, captains of the creative industries in the city need to congregate and give practical meaning to the quest for the city to be declared a cultural capital. Which art forms are the most vibrant in the city? How many people are employed in the CCIs? What is the economic value of the sector? How much of the annual budget by the city is spent on CCIs? Is there traceable growth in audiences? How much local content is exported regionally and internationally? These and many other variables need honest reflection if Bulawayo is to be a true cultural capital. There is an apparent and urgent need for a white paper that unpacks the local creative ecosystem in its socio-economic and cultural manifestations. While in the western world the concept of a creative city is well defined, the iteration of an African creative city is a nascent concept that needs empirical exploration in the local context.

Values as a Vector for Development

A fascinating component of cosmopolitan cities such as Bulawayo is that they are imbued with a rich tapestry of values derived from various ethnic communities. Purposively harnessed and leveraged by conscientious leaders, the positive attributes of our shared value systems can galvanise our communities into a sense of being, identity and selflessness. Our negotiated and mutually agreed shared values are what define the extent to which we are willing and able to serve our communities. Aware that values are a construct and product of culture and define and strengthen our continued existence, it follows therefore that value transformation is one of the poignant questions to be addressed simultaneously with the creative cities’ agenda.

Overcoming Fragility and Precarity of Cultural Work

The arts can and are a brutal employer. Comparatively, income levels are lower than other sectors of the economy and social security is weak. The image and reality of a starving artist holds supreme over desires of a thriving artist. The general precariousness of cultural work poses a threat to Bulawayo’s desired cultural capital status. Few will be able to fully and meaningfully commit to the sector. The easy option has been to quit. A conversation on Bulawayo as a cultural capital inherently and inevitably has to confront the question of economic incentives.

My submissions do not seek to be prescriptive. That Bulawayo has a rich history and culture has never been in doubt. The desire is to challenge cultural operations in the city to give practical meaning to the desired official status of Bulawayo as Zimbabwe’s cultural capital. A comprehensive mapping of our cultural assets, tangible and intangible is prudent.

Butholezwe Kgosi Nyathi is Regional Director at the National Gallery in Bulawayo. He writes in his personal capacity. E-mail: butholezwekgosin@gmail.com