- Beitbridge International Festival of the Arts ( BIFA)
Beitbridge Arts Festival (BIFA) is a multi-disciplinary, participatory festival of the arts that seeks to provide artists from the Matebeleland region with exposure and capacity building opportunities through workshops and platforms for showcasing talent. For the first time since its inception, the arts festival will be held over three days, from 22 to 24 October at Beitbridge Inn, popularly known as the BHH. This year’s edition runs under the theme “Big Art, Small Town” features various activities from dance, drama, music and comedy. Key artists who will be performing during the festival include Ninja President -Winky D, Wadada Theatre and Iyasa, Judgment Yard, Siyaya Arts amongst many others. This project is supported by the Culture Fund and Swedish Embassy_DANIDA partnership under Culture Impacts Free Expression programme.
- Women’s Arts Festival (WAFEST)
Women’s Arts Festival (WAFEST) is a national event that empowers, celebrates, develops, supports and showcases female artists exploiting their various genres. WAFEST has been hosting tea garden parties for young women, providing them with coaching, financial literacy skills and motivation for empowerment. On Tuesday 20th October, from 1200 – 15.00hrs they hosted the Tea Garden: Breaking the Glass ceiling facilitated by first black female Zimbabwean Chartered Accountant, Emilia Chisango. The session looked at how to deal with obstacles that women face in a male dominated industry and how to overcome them. WAFEST is founded on the principle of ‘Educate Women, Empower Nations’ and provides fora for female artists to display their work and meet other artists. The festival hosted by Sistaz in Solidarity under Young Voices Network is having several build up activities culminating in the major festival scheduled for 11-14 November. This project is supported by the Culture Fund and Swedish Embassy_DANIDA partnership under Culture Impacts Free Expression programme.
- Tapfuma Gutsa Solo Exhibition – Mutations and Permutations; A Situationist Proposal
Tapfuma Gutsa’s work both as an artist and workshop leader has transformed art practice in Zimbabwe and beyond. In this solo exhibition, he presents his new works under the theme ‘Mutations and Permutations; A Situationist Proposal.’ Tapfuma’s use of materials both advances and subverts the tradition of stone sculpture that has dominated Zimbabwean art. The confidence and elegance of his objects’ forms is unmatched. The exhibition was officially opened at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare on Thursday the 8th of October 2015 and will run for a month thereafter. This project is supported by the Culture Fund in partnership with EU under the Arts & Culture Development programme.
- Savanna Arts Radio Drama Programme
The Savanna Trust Radio Drama Programme aims to engage in dialogue that will promote peace and social cohesion within communities in Zimbabwe through interactive theatre. The third episode titled Religion and Beliefs Conflict was aired on the 21st of October at 2010hrs on Star FM radio station. This episode was informed by the fact that religion within and outside Zimbabwe is one of the biggest catalyst and reason for conflict. Tune in to Star FM next Wednesday, radio frequencies are Beitbridge 94.8FM, Bulawayo 93.1FM, Harare 89.7FM, Gweru 87.6FM, Masvingo 89.8FM, Mutare 92.2FM, Mutorashanga 88.0FM, Vic Falls 102.9FM, Tsholotsho 105.0FM. This project was supported by the Culture Fund in partnership with UNDP and the Community of Practice to promote peace and social cohesion within communities in Zimbabwe. For more info visit http://www.savannatrust.com/.
- Stimulus Women Empowered Program
Women Empowered Program is designed to empower female artists with entrepreneurship and leadership skills through practical training and mentorship. This week from October 19 – October 23, Stimulus is training female artists under a workshop titled Project Centred Business Training Program, which will take participants through the ‘Project Life Cycle’ giving them the necessary information they need to assess the viability of a project, plan, implement, close, monitor & evaluate a project to ensure sustainability and continuous improvement. The program will also build female artists capacity on business planning, managing personal and business finances, branding and marketing, legal matters including contracting and intellectual property rights. This project is supported by the Culture Fund and Swedish Embassy_DANIDA partnership under Culture Impacts Gender Equality programme.
- Stop to Start International Dialoguing Sessions on strategies for peace building and national development.
The Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust has engaged Stop to Start International in undertaking dialogue sessions for arts and culture practitioner strategies for peace building and national development. The dialogue sessions build on the 2014 Conflict Prevention Management Reconciliation and Transformation (CPMRT) workshops implemented by the Ecumenical Church Leadership Forum (ECLF) and the aim is to augment the cultural sector’s capacity to contribute to national processes and opportunities emanating from the constitution for enhancement of social cohesion such as the formation of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission. This project was supported by the Culture Fund in partnership with UNDP and the Community of Practice to promote peace and social cohesion within communities in Zimbabwe.
