The Sunday Mail
LAST Saturday many poetry and literary enthusiasts converged at Harare’s Alliance Française to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare.
Organised by the British Council and Pamberi Trust, the event was characterised by brilliant performances from poets and musicians who included Chirikure Chirikure, Albert Nyathi, Madzitateguru, Biko Mutsaurwa, Flowchild, Hope Masike, Victor Kunonga and Tehn Diamond among others. The attendance proved that the spoken word has a significant following locally and the participating artistes did not disappoint, showcasing their exceptional talent on stage.
Despite having a large pool of talented poets in the country, there seems to be a huge void in the local arts industry in terms of the spoken word.
Unlike in music, fine art, comedy and theatre, poets have not been really promoting their own sub-sector.
Besides festivals such as Hifa and Shoko Festival, there are very limited platforms that provide poetry lovers the opportunity to go and verse.
There has been a very high dependency on donor funding in the sector and many poets have failed to take the initiative and come up with strategies to keep the fire burning.
Other sections have expressed their concern over some of the foreign funded arts initiatives, which make use of local talent to push their own cultural ideas.
The closure of Book Cafe late last year dealt a major blow to poetry as the venue provided a platform to showcase new work.
Despite Pamberi Trust Gardens being an alternative, the venue has not adopted the atmosphere that characterised Book Cafe and the unpopularity of the joint has not been helping.
Credit to Pamberi Trust for keeping the spirit of spoken word alive with their weekly open mic sessions and monthly poetry slams but there is still more that needs to be done if the spoken word in the industry is to grow.
Very few poets host solo shows at different venues around the city but there is very little or no progress in terms of organising bigger events that cater for the spoken word.
Although Bulawayo has a lively poetry community, there has not been much progress in other parts of the country.
The Sunday Mail Leisure spoke to several spoken word artistes and other individuals associated with the craft and they shared their views on the local poetry situation.
Renowned poet Chirikure Chirikure said there were many creative poets in the country but platforms for sharing their work with the public were minimal.
“On the creative side of things, many people are writing brilliant pieces which they only get to share with their families and friends because there are not many platforms where they can recite their poems. Every now and then we get opportunities to perform at a few gatherings but these have also been dwindling on a daily basis,” said Chirikure.
Besides being invited to take part at festivals or other events, many poets have found it difficult to organise their own shows.
He added: “You know, it’s one thing to be an artiste, and another to be a promoter so you will realise that instead of coming up with their own shows, many poets would rather wait to be invited to perform at events that would have been organised by other organisations or individuals.”
Chirikure said there was need to open more spaces that accommodate performing poets.
“Pamberi Trust has done a great job preserving some of the platforms that were available at the Book Cafe but I think we need to open more spaces that cater for poetry audiences. The spoken word scene in Bulawayo is much better than here in Harare because there is so much stuff going on that side and I think as poets we need to engage partners whom we can work with so as to organise more shows,” said Chirikure.
Another poet, Albert Nyathi, said poets should take a leaf from what stand-up comedians are doing in order to grow the poetry industry.
“I think we should learn one or two things from the guys who are doing stand-up comedy because they have managed to grow their industry. These guys have taken the initiative and are working very hard to cultivate an audience and they have been increasing their visibility everyday which is what we also need to do as poets,” said Nyathi.
He also said Government had to realise the potential of the craft, alongside other arts genres, as a tool to promote local culture. Added Nyathi: “Most of our arts initiatives are being funded by foreign donors and I don’t see anything wrong with that but I think government should also pour in money so that we use our talent to promote local culture.”
Radio personality and poet So Profound, real name Arnold Chirimika, said the local poetry landscape was in dire need of reform. “Local poetry is in trouble because there are rarely any poetry shows happening and when they do happen they are of a very low magnitude thereby attracting poor attendances.
“We need to create more consistent platforms, develop the grassroots and get younger people excited about finding expression through poetry.”
He said there was need to reach more people and build structures for the monetisation of the art to guarantee sustainability.
“Most of the times we depend on donor funding, which is ok but we need to come up with our own plans, structures and an industry that is independent of donor funding,” said So Profound.
Pamberi Trust project officer Hector Mugani said poetry played a significant role in local culture and needed to be recognised as such. “Poetry has been part of Zimbabweans for many years and it can be seen in our totem praise poetry, thus we need to reinstate its importance in the country’s mainstream cultural fraternity.
“We have to grow our audience base and make platforms like House of Hunger Poetry and other platforms rise again. There are a few poets like So Profound who have embarked on creating their own platforms for example, Toi Toi Collective, Uhuru Network and Magamba with their Shoko Festival but there is need to come up with more support systems,” said Mugani.
