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Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
WHEN the organisers of the Intwasa Festival koBulawayo announced last year that the festival would be moving from September to December, some could be forgiven for thinking that the last rites were being administered on the country’s longest running festival.
With festivals around the country dying a slow and painful death, some thought that this would be the death knell on an arts extravaganza that has showcased the best from the country’s cultural capital for 17 years.
For those 17 years, it felt as if Intwasa was just as sure a thing as the purple leaves blooming on jacaranda trees in the City of Kings. Yet, as it prepared for its 16th edition, audiences were being told that Intwasa was being moved to December, long after the leaves that sprouted on those jacarandas and fallen and got swallowed by the mud of the rainy season.
Intwasa, prophets of doom would have predicted, was now on its legs and the fat lady was now clearing her voice in the background, preparing to sing. This year’s edition of the arts fete however, would have gone a long way in shutting up the naysayers.
Not only has Intwasa returned, it returned in fine form. For five days, the city of Kings was treated to the finest entertainment in a multicity of arts genres. From music, to poetry, history and theatre, the organisers of the arts festival left no stone unturned as they battled, against the financial odds, to make sure that they delivered a spectacle worthy of Intwasa’s illustrious history.
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From the Life and Inventions of Hedy Lamarr to Market Dreams, this year’s fest showed that eulogies that have been written about theatre in the City of Kings are premature, as the artform is still a crown jewel of the city’s arts scene.
Perhaps, the biggest letdown of this year’s fest was the cancellation of The Vusa Mkhaya Experience, depriving audiences of a performance that had been long anticipated.
Mkhaya’s event was meant to invigorate a festival that seemed a little light on live musical performances once again. The absence of the big stage at the City Hall stuck out like a sore thumb once again, as it deprived Intwasa of the kind of energy that seemed to wake up Bulawayo every day. In years past, the big stage was like an umbilical between Bulawayo and the festival, giving those people who might not have the resources to attend events in other “sophisticated” venues a sense of belonging, a feeling that the festival is theirs. As it is, the festival largely played out in venues where arts gurus usually congregate, and for most people the festival passed unnoticed, as it was “hidden” from them.
In an interview, the director of the Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo Raisedon Baya said they were happy they had managed to pull off the tough feat of putting together the festival, despite numerous financial challenges.
“I think from an organiser’s point of view, we are happy that under difficult circumstances caused by a lack of resources, we were still able to curate a programme that makes sure that we continue as the longest surviving festival in the country. We are happy with the performers that we brought from outside Bulawayo, in terms of the quality, in terms of the artistes that came and share their experiences here. It has been nice,” he said.
Baya said while they were thrilled with the level of local support they had received, they also realised the need to start building up excitement for some of the shows earlier in the year.
“We are also happy with the support that our local people have also been giving to the shows. However, I think what has been a learning curve for us is that maybe we should not just prepare for the festival on its own, but there is a need for us to build audiences, way in advance of the festival. This is because sometimes, when September comes and you curate these shows, you expect people to just jump and start attending yet throughout the year, you wouldn’t have been building towards that. So, it’s important that as we go into the future, the festival is seen building and cultivating audiences throughout the year so that when the festival comes, there is already an air of expectation and excitement amongst the people,” he said.
While this year’s fest had a bit of international flavour, Baya said input from local artistes was the seal of approval they needed to keep going even in tough times.
“We are also thankful in terms of local artistes that keep on supporting the festival. We have always maintained that artistes are important stakeholders in the festival and it means a lot when they support us. When local artistes want to showcase, share and be seen it means that we still have a mandate to keep doing this. We had one or two corporates that came through for us this year and we are hoping to build on that. Hopefully next year we will get more support, which makes the running of the festival smoother.
“As a parting shot, maybe we would like to thank our partners that came through. We had the US Embassy that brought in an artiste from America. We are also thankful for a South African mobility fund that brought in two poets from that country. We are very appreciative of Bhekumusa Moyo who is currently working in Zambia and has made sure that for the past two or three years, poets from that country also participate in the festival. We are also grateful to our Harare partners like Patsime Trust for giving us shows. We will admit that things don’t always work according to plan but we are grateful to say that 90 percent of the things happened exactly as we had planned them,” he said.