Protest arts revisit Zimbabwe

Societies where poverty and inequality are endemic always experience forms of discontent and rebellion. And in most cases, those who are challenging the status quo are often socially excluded, branded as opposition or social misfits, and seen as befitting suppression especially by the political elite presiding over repressive regimes, be it in politics, work places and even homes.

Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, a country that has earned notoriety over the last decade in the arena of governance was host to an arts and culture festival aimed at promoting protest or anti-establishment activities deliberately designed to enhance the chances of societies being democratised by harnessing the energies of young people.

In the spaghetti bowl of its activities that ranged from seminars, performances led by poets, musicians and academics, poets for human rights seemed to have mastered well the art of taking the audience along with them.

When Robson Shoes, Michael Mabwe and Taku Mafika teamed up to perform, the flow was like a river whose source is somewhere up in the mountains, digging its way through the valleys and ultimately getting angry and oozing floods till all it has carried along the way is emptied into the salty seas.

Beginning on a slow note and poking fun at a society, they reminisced of how the country was now governed through processes that carried a codename ‘operation or commission’.

They weaved through streets of this country where garbage is rotting and stinking because the authorities claim they have no capacity to clean the city. They tickled people’s imagination when they made references to rivers emerging from burst pipes and bloated with raw sewage.

The voice of women was well projected by the energetic young female activist, ZAZA aka ERS whose trailblazing poetry earned her loud applause as she was going through her pieces, especially ‘Knock Knock’. Hers was a celebration of womanhood and she clearly urged people to think outside the box and be ready to be counted when the chips are down.

Heading to Theatre in the Park, Leroy Gono, Everson Ndlovu and Precious featured in the play ‘Revolutionary’, where they brought to life the dilemmas of an impractical idealist bent on righting incorrigible wrongs. This sounded like acting out the life story of the ancient character Don Quixote, hero of a satirical chivalric romance found in Miguel de Cervantes’ work. The play was centred on the pursuit of valour and honour in love; ultimately it portrayed that the biggest prize one earns in fighting a dictatorship is death.

Unparalleled hilarious moments of the festival were in the play ‘Election day’, featuring Teddy Mangawa, Tafadzwa Bobby Mutumbi, Privilege Mutendera, Brezhnev Kuveya and Eunice Tava. This was one of those moments when I felt the validity of Chinua Achebe’s observation that when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb, an old person feels uneasy. The play did not mince its words and message. African leaders steal elections and at times, when panic hits their establishments, the former faithful lieutenants within it resort to ill-gotten resources as guarantees for the future especially when they want to continue enjoying the same comfort levels. It was apparent in the play, that dictators listen and ponder over alternative advice, but just ignore all sober things and opt for the bizarre.

More plays were featured at the University of Zimbabwe, an institution that seems to be struggling with unshackling the evils of fascism in its own corridors, under a leadership which seems to have no clue about what academic freedom means in the wake of external hands meddling in its day to day affairs. Community-based organisations showcased three plays – ‘Inmates’, ‘Apokalypses’ and ‘My son’. All these reinforced the challenge Zimbabwean society is facing these days – how to manage diversity and promote pluralism.

In the rest of the seminars, academics moved from the ivory towers and grounded with ordinary Zimbabweans in interactive platforms where they spoke on how they want people’s basic human rights to be safeguarded and how vulnerable people should be protected against poverty and exploitation.

The reflections were challenging all present to think seriously of how the political system functions, how decisions are made and implemented, how resources and opportunities are distributed and how justice and fairness is achieved.

In the seminars and plenary sessions that took place, all pointed to the fact that festival was growing and the depth and breadth of engagement.

Recommendations for the future ranged from proposals for institutionalising an annual festival, sharing of experiences beyond the country’s borders, publishing proceeding especially the papers that were presented in workshops and expanding the catchment area of participants and resource persons beyond those in the arts industry.

Some felt that the festival would benefit tremendously by adding short films and other artistic forms that can enhance of the growth and free expression of protest through cultural activities.

For a festival that started off with 50 people participating in 2009, it is clear that it has come of age and will be a household event in Zimbabwe if the organisers, Savannah Arts, invest in their vision and consolidate the gains they made this year.

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