 HIFA’s founder and artistic director Manuel Bagorro told ZimOnline yesterday that the artists had indicated that they were worried about their safety and would not be traveling to Harare.
 The festival organisers had to frantically look for replacements to fill the slots of the international artists.
 “The artists were worried about their safety, citing the political friction and uncertainty here and they will not be coming to Zimbabwe now,” Bagorro said.
 “The artists said they were not sure what would be awaiting them in Zimbabwe and decided to stay away.”
Politically motivated violence and human rights abuses have resurfaced in many parts of Zimbabwe since the country’s disputed presidential and parliamentary elections on March 29.
 The opposition Movement for Democratic Change party says 10 of its supporters have been murdered and at least 3 000 others displaced in the violence that the party says is meant to intimidate Zimbabweans to vote for Mugabe in an anticipated second round run-off presidential election.
 The withdrawal from HIFA by the international artists put a damper on the multi-disciplinary arts festival that was looking forward to a rich diversity of cultural and artistic performances from overseas.
 HIFA is rated among the world’s 10 best arts and culture festivals and has attracted world-renowned artists over the years.
 Dancer and choreographer Chipo Mambo who had traveled from Bulawayo – Zimbabwe’s second city south of the country – said that without the participation of the international artists HIFA would not be truly representative of world cultures.
 “Its unfortunate that some of the international artists cannot be with us because of political reasons that we have no control over. But we should now use HIFA as artists to speak out against the politicians who are hampering our social development,” said Mambo.
 Without much of the sought after international flavour, following the stay away by the artists, HIFA was still determined to rumble on for the next six days showcasing Zimbabwe’s own artistic talent and ingenuity in music, dance, poetry, visual art and theatre. – ZimOnline.
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