Frederick Philander
23 March 2007
Manzini — It is a challenge for all African states to invest financially and avail meaningful resources to develop art in order to make African art stronger than what it is at present.
This was the public plea by the Deputy Minister for Youth Affairs in the Swaziland government, Hlobsile Ndlovu, to all African countries, particularly to member countries of SADC.
She was addressing a five-day African Theatre Network conference at which theatre experts for children's and young people's theatre gathered to work out the mechanics to strategically consolidate all theatre efforts.
Representatives from 15 African Assitej-Centres, including Namibia, attended the lively and insightful meeting that can have far-reaching consequences for theatre on the continent in the Royal Kingdom of Swaziland.
"Art, and particularly theatre, has made a tremendous impact on world culture, thereby establishing Africans as a unique people. For this reason my ministry has increased its budget for this financial year towards strengthening efforts of the Swaziland Arts Council for artists to function better and more effectively," said Ndlovu.
In her opinion, artists need to be recognized for their efforts.
"These artists require full control in the commercialization of their works in close cooperation with governments," she said to great applause from the conference participants.
The Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) financed the conference, a watershed event that will run out at the end of this year. The international body has been supporting the African Network for the past 5 years to the tune of more than N$6million.
In welcoming the delegates to the conference on behalf of Assitej-Swaziland, Sandile Ndzimandze, referred to the uphill struggle development theatre is experiencing in his country and others.
"It took us five years in Swaziland to raise the US$100 to formally affiliate as a centre to Assitej-International. This is due to the fact that theatre is constantly struggling to get recognition from African governments. We are asking our governments to assist African theatre practitioners in all efforts to empower themselves, be it through the attendance of workshops or conferences," Ndzimandze, the president of the local centre, urged.
"The Assitej African Networking organ will go a long way to developing theatre in the Southern African Region as well as the continent of Africa, but then arts and culture should be given the status it deserves," said the Kingdom's principle secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs at the same occasion.
Swaziland is one of many African countries struggling to implement legislation for the establishment of an enabling environment of the arts and culture sector in that country.
"The Ministry of Home Affairs supports theatre initiatives for young people to express their creative abilities. In this there are many challenges. Only good governance and accountability will assist the development of theatre in Swaziland and elsewhere. At the same time, it is important that African theatre has to have its own cultural identity because too many foreign cultures downplay the identity of African styles, something that deprives theatre of its uniqueness," the PS said.
He agreed that theatre is one of the effective tools that can be used to educate people on a broader basis.
"Closer working relations in theatre by artists with Ministries of Education should be formalized. There is also the challenge of incorporating theatre in the school curriculums of countries, instead of it being an extra curriculum subject. However, funds for theatre and arts are quite inadequate. Older artists also need to be catered for to ensure that arts and theatre become a viable option for young people to grow in," he suggested.
The PS also alluded to the fact that fewer African women than men are directly involved in African theatre.
"Women need to play leading roles in playwriting, directing and producing. I am sure this conference is also aimed at encouraging the role of women in theatre," he concluded.
An AIDS-puppet workshop from 15 to 23 May in Lusaka, Zambia, is one of the decisions taken by the African Networking conference. Other resolutions taken include: a strategic workshop in November in Gaberone, Botswana, the establishment of a website and the attendance of the next world theatre conference of Assitej-International in Adelaide, Australia in May 2008.
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