PICTURE: Cultural groups express themselves much better in their mother language
CULTURAL industry is also known as the creative industry. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) defines cultural industry as the one that “combines the creation, production, and distribution of goods and services that are cultural in nature and usually protected by intellectual property rights (copyright).”
According to UNESCO, the mainstream categories of the cultural industry are: music, film, television, radio and publishing. Other categories may include: visual arts, performing arts, crafts, design, architecture and cultural tourism.
The basic aim of the cultural industry is employment creation and economical returns. If culture has economic returns, how can we develop a viable cultural industry?
Firstly, we cannot talk of a cultural industry without considering the country’s ability to support the arts and culture’s contribution to sustainable development. In the preceding article, I discussed how the Government of Zimbabwe’s policies support cultural tourism. The challenge is bestowed to the public-private sector to play its part.
The most important thing that tourism operators need to change is their attitude toward culture. They should come from the wrong perspective that culture, especially sub-culture, has much to do with primitive and black magic practices. Culture has various categories which include religion, arts, music, language, customs, food and others. Even if some cultures might have questionable practices, we cannot umbrella everything as primitive and black. Why can’t we market the rich and unique part of each culture?
Another area where attitude change is vital is language. Artistes express themselves much better in their mother language. Isn’t it a wrong attitude to expect all local culture groups to express themselves in Ndebele, Shona, and English? Zimbabwe has minority languages like Tsonga (known as Shangaan in Zimbabwe and Mozambique), Nambiya, Tonga, Tswao (San), Kalanga, Venda, Ndau and many others. Wouldn’t a Chokoto dance group from Chiredzi or a Muchongoyo dance group from Chipinge express itself much better in Tsonga and Ndau respectively?
There is dire need of introducing arts and culture academies in the country. Amakhosi Theatre Production of Bulawayo has been addressing this problem but it would be much better if more academies come into play.
Tourism operators should take it as a policy to engage cultural groups/artistes regularly in their business. For example, artistes can be contracted to perform at resorts/lodges on selected days. Suppose every hotel or guest lodge contracts a cultural group/artiste say, every weekend, how many groups would benefit countrywide? Wouldn’t this ease unemployment?
Secondly, cultural sites should be branded and given unique identity. This is where local government comes in. Rural and Town councils should be in the forefront of marketing local culture, heritage sites and museums. Unfortunately, most of the councils and municipalities have a tired or no cultural policy at all.
Of interesting note are Chiredzi councils. They are keen on promoting cultural tourism. For the past three years, Chiredzi Rural District Council has been the lead sponsor of the regional Great Limpopo Cultural Fair. Recently Chiredzi Town Council has sponsored Chiredzi Arts Festival. If all local councils follow suit, wouldn’t the cultural industry become viable?
Thirdly, there is a serious problem which hinders the cultural industry development. Copyright has been weakened by piracy. Efforts to curb piracy by taking pirates head-on have proved unfruitful. Instead, pirates are increasing on the market.
In most cases, pirate electronic products like CDs and DVDs are selling for a dollar, and pirate printed A4 products selling $1 for 30 copies. Original products range from six to fifteen times higher than pirated ones.
Is it possible that cultural industry stakeholders introduce strategies that will help discourage piracy? How possibly can the industry be able to put on the market products that are fairly cheaper to put pirates out of business?
Fourthly, despite the scourge of piracy, cultural industries should be developed locally. Professor Herbert Chimhundu of the Institute of Lifelong Learning & Development Studies at Chinhoyi University of Technology, who is also coordinator for UNESCO SAICH Cooperation Platform and Chairman of Centre for Language & Communication Studies, suggests that we should base the cultural industry on local flavour.
In his presentation at the just ended Great Limpopo Cultural Business Forum, Professor Chimhundu urged communities to market their culture.
Said Professor Chimhundu: “We should use content from African folklore, especially tales, to produce cultural products. Our children are watching foreign cartoons when we can make our own cartoons based on local folktales.
“For example we have a rungano (folk tale) called Mukwasha waMuchape in Shona. In Kenya I found a similar folktale called Mungo in Swahili. I believe this folktale comes from our culture but no one ever produced it here for marketing. We should start producing such works and reproduces them with subtitling in different African languages and distribute them across the region,” concluded Professor Chimhundu.
Such a proposal would be viable with the help of cultural villages. The forthcoming article shall give an insight into the cultural villages.