B-METRO COMMENT: Arts support despite economy commendable

Intwasa, the spring arts festival, is upon us and it is likely to be a hive of activity from 24-28 September in Bulawayo. 

Festivals are arenas where talents are nurtured and exposed to the world and where variegated art forms find expression, where the spirit of art that transcends distance, language and culture pervades the air, holding humanity spellbound for a period.

This is a time of celebration and it is our hope that Bulawayo is ready for a couple of days of theatre, dance, music, comedy and many other performances from around the city and from other countries. We urge the public to turn up in their numbers and support the arts. Many of our young and even the old are making a living out of the arts and they deserve our support. Also, the arts soothe souls, and in such a challenging economic environment, this could be an opportunity to get refreshed by attending the arts festival and unwinding.

We are aware that business has borne the brunt of economic problems but it is our hope that it shall continue to lend a helping hand to the arts sector through such festivals and also funding institutions that groom artists.  

On the other hand we expect polished acts from the artists so that the public get their money’s worth. 

The call to organisers, that are responsible for putting the performances together, is to ensure that the little things that may spoil the broth are sorted out, chief among these being poor time keeping. It is important to have shows that start on the scheduled times and hopefully there are contingency measures in case of power outages. It would not be proper to use power failures as an excuse should performances be disrupted since power shortages have taught us that we can have a blackout anytime.  

We wish everyone an entertainment-filled experience and urge our visitors to feel welcome and to sample what Bulawayo has to offer. To our hospitality sector that has just played host to visitors to Sanganai/Hlanganani Expo, our plea is to be flexible enough to give our visitors a great experience without necessarily compromising on the quality. Let the performances begin!

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