Sandra Mandizvidza
13 September 2008
Three of Zimbabwe's highly talented female performing artistes were last night scheduled to hold a celebration of the long way women have come in the performing arts, a field that was until recently dominated by men.
The three -- Linda Gabriel, Hope Masike and Vimbai Zimuto -- pioneered what is now known as the Sistaz Open Mic 20 months ago. The event has since grown to become one of the major attractions at the Book Café, an upmarket joint in Harare.
The event was to be held under the theme Sivela Kude/Kwatabva Kure (We've Come A Long Way!)
In an interview with Standardplus, Gabriel said the event was meant to "celebrate the work of the Sistaz".
"It is a celebration of the works of the Sistaz, looking at the result of what they have done so far. We have Vimbai Zimuto who has released a new album and Hope who now plays mbira at the Book café. It is a way of encouraging other Sistaz and nurturing new talents," said Gabriel.
The 23-year-old Gabriel was early this year offered a photojournalism scholarship at the highly acclaimed Market Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has performed at such events as the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) and other poetry circles in Zimbabwe. In South Africa, she has taken part at the Arts Alive and Jozi Spoken Word Festival, among other events.
Her colleagues have also been making great strides in the arts.
Zimuto is a former backing vocalist for township musician Tanga Wekwa Sando. She is also a soloist on mbira, and has held workshops with arts organisation Pamberi Trust's gender programme, Female Literary Arts and Music Enterprise (FLAME). Zimuto has a music album entitled Vimbainashe.
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