Established in 2001, the trust provides facilities for the grooming of self-employed artists in small informal enterprises. Creative director Paul Brickhill’s aim is to promote the reaping of tangible socio-economic gain from local culture by creating a vital creative industry sector.
“The country is liberating its culture and waking up to its vast untapped riches in intellectual and creative resource capacity,” said Brickhill. More and more people are making a living out of this sector, turning skills into exports beneficial to the country.
Brickhill called on non-governmental organisations to play the roles of service provider and art development incubators, because the state or quasi-state incentives are woefully inadequate.
He also urged government to provide incentives for the emerging creative economy and facilitate its registration as a formal enterprise. “If government provides this support, the sector will yield surplus revenue to pay for its own growth and build the required infrastructure,” he said.
Some of the recent events organised by Pamberi Trust in the process of mentoring artists include Flame, which promotes women artists. Flame gave a platform to 301 performing artists, while 12 Sistaz Open Microphone events featured 357 young women.
Outreach workshops for poetry in Bulawayo, Mrewa, Gweru, Rusape, Kwekwe and Masvingo, workshops for young artists, gender forum discussions, film screenings, literacy events and discussions are some of the activities aimed at promoting culture as livelihood.
The trust also identifies and promotes new indigenous artistic talent and provides training to performing and visual artists.
Established and upcoming musicians such as Dudu Manhenga, Mike ‘Mic Inity’ Madamombe, Alexio Kawara, Mawungira eNharira and Victor Kunonga are among the several beneficiaries of the programme
In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Pamberi Trust was awarded a NAMA award in February 2013 for outstanding achievement.
Most Zimbabwe formations producing artistic content are small enterprises. They are proprietor-managed, self-employed entities or partnerships and include musical bands, sound studios, craft producers, film makers, theatre groups, dance ensembles, stand-up comedies and fashion designers.
In the European Union some 6.2 million people are employed in the creative sector – more than those in coal mining, iron and steel and car manufacturing combined.
Post published in: News