Why can’t we also ‘did’ it?

10 Dec, 2017 - 00:12 0 Views
Why can’t we also ‘did’ it?

The Sunday Mail

India’s International Dance Festival is Bollywood in real life.

And it is something that Zimbabwe’s premier fiestas – the Harare International carnival and the Harare International Arts Festival – can surely learn a lot from.

It is all about destination marketing, and with enough thought and planning, festivals can be a turn up for both the arts sector and for tourism.

Our Carnival, Hifa, Shoko, Intwasa, Chimanimani Arts Festival, Zimbabwe International Film Festival, Hurungwe Arts Festival, Jerusarema Mbende Festival, Great Limpompo Culture Fair, Dzimbahwe Arts Festival, Rushinga Arts and Culture Festival, Zimbabwe International Book Fair, Zimbabwe Mbira Festival, Winter Jazz Festival and the October Braai Fest could all be bigger than they presently are.

India hosts a major arts or cultural fair every month, each one bringing international visitors and each one contributing to the development of the sector in that vibrant Asian country.

The events are jointly planned by the country’s tourism authority and independent arts promoters, generating huge revenues and marketing India as a tourism and investment destination of choice.

Shilpa Bhagat Patel, director of the India’s International Dance Festival which takes place in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, says: “Our festivals attract different cultural groups from within and outside borders with participants coming from as far as Europe, Africa and the United States. At any given time we have more than a single event taking place in the country so visitors are spoiled for choice.”

He says in India, they do not consider concurrent events as competition but rather find ways to enhance complementarity.

The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and Hwamanda Dance Troupe attended this year’s Manipur Sangai Festival; and also had the opportunity to go to the festival in Gujarat and two other high profile events in Kolkata and New Delhi.

The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe in conjunction with ZTA and other stakeholders should craft a system that spreads major events and supporting ones throughout the year.

For instance, Hifa, Intwasa, Shoko, Chimanimani Arts Festival, ZIFF and ZIBF can be spread across the year and across the country, complemented by leisure events like Tour de Tuli, Donnybrook Car Rally, the OK Grand Challenge and the Castle Tankard.

The Manipur Polo International runs concurrently with the Manipur Sangai Festival.

ZTA executive director (national convention bureau) Tesa Chikaponya – who headed the Zimbabwe delegation to India – notes, “Tourists are always looking for adventure hence they usually plan their holidays around major events. India has managed to capitalise on a well organised festivals calendar. We have to adopt some of these things.”

India is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious society that knows how to celebrate national, religious and seasonal festivals.

Further, the country has a vibrant arts and culture development model that Zimbabwe can immensely benefit from.

What is particularly frustrating is that the two countries have several cultural exchange agreements dating back to 1981 that we are yet to fully capitalise on.

It is good that there is realisation of this and India’s Embassy in Zimbabwe is working with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and ZTA to bridge the gap.

The ICCR – the equivalent of our National Arts Council of Zimbabwe – is mandated to showcase the best of Indian performing visual arts, and formulation and implementation of policies and programmes pertaining to the country’s external cultural relations.

The government in New Delhi tries to adequately funds arts and culture without expecting to reap “direct benefits” from artistes.

India does not demand unrealistic registration and arts promotion fees – despite the sector being valued at over US$20 billion.

In addition, they have a once-off payment system for music for radio and television and hence there are no royalty squabbles.

Here, the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association charges US$80 for membership and then struggles to pay royalties. The NACZ charges promoters at least five percent of the total budget for a gig. The Censorship Board comes in for its US$250 pound of flesh.

So how does the Indian government and ICCR make money from the arts?

Joint director (arts and culture department) in the local government of Manipur, Kishworjit Singh, explains: “A cultural event like Manipur Sangai Festival will attract participants from afar, which will in turn create business for local industries like hospitality, transport/aviation and craft.”

ICCR also sponsors some artistes to perform internationally as a way to export culture and in turn attract visitors.

International tourist arrivals to India stand at around eight million per annum and are projected to grow to above 10 million by 2020.

“Our contribution to the country’s economy is significant though not direct. You should not expect to get much from artistes because they are a struggling group. The aim should be to ensure that artistes get pension schemes and insurance to cover them from life hazards,” adds Singh.

Likewise, there also is a conscious decision to create vibrancy and continuity within the culture sector. Manipur Culture University was recently opened with that thrust, and enrolment is currently limited to Indian nationals.

“Our culture university is fairly new and is enrolling for the second semester after the first six months. This is the second culture university in the country and we plan on enrolling foreign students when we get grant certification. We need to be recognised throughout the country before foreigners can join in,” says Singh.

Moreover, ICCR owns magnificent auditoriums across India. The well-equipped facilities are accessible free of charge for programmes that they are a part of, while private players can hire them for a trifling fee.

Singh says flexible censorship laws promote diversity and growth.

“We basically have no censorship for performing arts but only for film since it is a big industry with capacity to influence many people. Artistes are generally guided by their religions not government regulations.”

So, to borrow from the old joke: “If India did it, why can’t we also did it?”

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