By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
A Namibian delegation is in Harare ahead of the National Arts Merit Awards scheduled for the Harare International Conference Centre on Saturday.
The delegation comprising Namibian Ambassador to Zimbabwe and Mozambique Mr Nicklass Kandjii, Isabel Creen the deputy chair of the Namibian Arts Council and Deputy Head of Mission Zemha Gawachas, met with officials from the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation to learn the best practices of running an awards show like the NAMAs.
In Namibia, they have the Namibian Annual Music Awards (NAMAs) which primarily honour musicians and not any other arts discipline like what the Zimbabwean NAMA does.
However, the Namibians will soon be launching what are known as NACA awards which cater for every art discipline.
According to Creen, the tour follows the coming of new board of the Namibian Arts Council which will be in office for the next three years.
And in their quest to conceptualize their upcoming awards the delegation sought knowledge on how to run such national prestigious events.
Ambassador Kandjii said he was happy with the collaboration between the two countries in promotion arts development.
He said there was a lot that the two countries could learn from each other’s rich cultural heritage.
Director Arts and Culture Promotion and Development in the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Art and Recreation, Dr Biggie Samwanda applauded the relationship between Zimbabwe and Namibia saying there were more areas of cooperation in development the sectors into creative industries.
Nicholas Moyo, the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe said NAMA gave artists the not only the recognition they deserve but also added value to their names and works.
“What happen on the day of the awards is not important but what then happens afterwards. We have testimonies from who either have performed at the event or have won awards and that it what is important.
“So you cannot put value to the award but when you have it then it means you have been recognized at the national level,” Moyo said.
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