HARARE Zimbabwe female musicians have been urged to play an active role in arts as entrepreneurs. (Pictured: Dudu Manhenga - Zimbabwean women artistes have the talent, but are scared of the unknown)
Speaking at the two-day creativity enterprise course held for women musicians in Harare, Pamberi Trust Gender Projects officer, Batsirayi Chigama said the female musicians should rise up and show their strength in as far as music is concerned. “It is high time the women defy all odds instead of whining over being relegated in the music industry or viewed as second class. The onus is on women to stand up and prove their worth, said Chigama.
“Women should stop making excuses, but should positively look at their unharnessed power and ability to change the status quo,” she said. Chigama said music was also a business just like farming, sewing and cross border trading. She urged the Zimbabwean women who were once confined to such careers as teaching, nursing and secretarial studies to break these professional barriers and make their presence felt in the arts industry.
I am proud that some women are successfully taking art as a business from which they can earn a living. Although most women would not want to believe, the fact remains that arts can sustain livelihoods if a business approach is adopted, said Chigama.
A good example is of successful talented gospel singer Shingisai Suluma who left teaching to pursue a career in music showing that music can be just as enriching.
Dudu Manhenga, a popular jazz artiste who attended the workshop said: Zimbabwean women artistes have the talent, but are scared of the unknown. Writing lyrics is not different than writing business plan, it is only that as musicians we let ourselves down by taking music as a hobby giving credence to the myth that music does not pay. “Music can be planned, the same way as business. We need to understand the business concepts as it helps in developing our music, increase our knowledge and protect ourselves and our art,” said Manhenga.
The Pamberi Trust and British Council sponsored the workshop in a bid to promote and educate the women artistes. The workshop was well attended by women musicians who included gospel divas, poets and urban groovers like Joyce Simeti, Patience Musa, Dudu Manhenga, Rute Mbangwa, Plaxedes Wenyika-Joka among others.
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