Zimbabwe

 The 2007 Harare International Festival of Arts (HIFA)

By Martin Chemhere, Harare mchemhere@yahoo.com

_{Artists look up to HIFA as an avenue for the much needed revenue, business look forward to refreshing their minds while those ordinary people who will manage to enter the venue anticipate to interact with their favourite artists. There is no doubt that when HIFA comes to town every year for its traditional 6 days (1 – 6 May this year) the city transforms into a sea of artistic celebration, vibrating to new and old style rhythms on the performance side while the visual engagements by masters and the emerging names add to the cumulative creative appeal of the cultural extravaganza.}

_{While the cultural spectacle has taken the Southern African part of the continent by storm with more national and regional artists now considering the event their favoured turf, HIFA has courted controversy over the years. Many local critics – writers and artists (especially musicians) have complained that the event favours non Zimbabwean artists when it comes to performing at what they have called ‘a lucrative’ venue – in particular the main stage. Programmed to feature the best of the world’s leading master entertainers, the main stage is the place which attracts huge audiences and in the eyes of the critics and the musicians, the best performance fees given out and too, prime exposure. Their argument is that while the festival is meant to showcase a wide array of international artistic stars, it should give, at its major stage, local musicians the opportunity to be seen by the rich and famous people (who include the hard to lure local corporate personalities) or at least let them share the stage with the ‘international stars’.}

_{They might be right – for the main stage – has become the best attended during HIFA, attracting some of the largest and multiracial music fans in its history. ‘Its no use local musicians playing second fiddle to other regional and continental acts year in and year out, we are supposed to be at the forefront of the attractions. We want to be seen by the multiracial audiences because they are important in the development of our music. Or at least the organizers should let us share the stage with visiting music stars”, said a leading traditional music singer a few years ago. However, it seems it has been the musicians who have not been happy about programming at the country’s world class cultural platform. The visual artists such as sculptors and painters have not complained publicly about the exhibitions they have featured.}

_{Perhaps their contentment derives from the fact that they have always had the best space available for their works at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. Secondly, maybe, local contemporary artists dominate the visual art show each year. Some critics have however, said that the success of HIFA’s visual arts display will depend largely on the type of curators engaged to put up the shows. A couple of years ago a leading curator now currently based in England, and who had worked for the festival in previous editions told this writer that he had been offered very low fees as compared to past experience. This trend, he said, was dangerous as it would result in experienced curators being taken in ‘just to have an exhibition’. Against this background, it is hoped that this year’s installment ropes in a name from the top shelf to keep the standards world class. It is important to note that other disciplines such as theatre and crafts, still maintain high standards much to the appeasement of many – writers, public and business.}

_{Despite the fact that HIFA has in some instances attracted negative response from some quarters, there is no doubt that it is probably the continent’s mega cultural event. Of course, it is not another “biennale”, but its importance in bringing together top class artists from all over the world, its well pronounced Zimbabwean flavour, its organizational supremacy, fluent programming, media attention, are some of the things that have transformed it into a class arts festival of international repute. As we count down the hours to the 2007 edition, it is no secret that everybody - critics and ordinary folks await the event with baited breath. The city can’t wait to once again forget the current troubles of incessant price hikes that have left the lot of us with little more than morsels on our tables. At this juncture, it is only proper to say “HIFA forever”.}