Story by Buhlebenkosi Makwelo
HARARE – THE Gobela Arts Development Agency hosted an Arts Administrators’ High Tea in Harare this Wednesday, bringing together local creatives and industry leaders for a robust exchange on artist management, wellness, and innovation in the arts sector.
Held under the theme “Celebrating Creative Leadership”, the engagement sought to empower administrators with knowledge to nurture, manage, and support artists professionally and holistically.
The event sparked vital conversations on how creatives can safeguard their mental health, collaborate effectively, and expand their revenue streams beyond traditional platforms.
Panellist and mental health expert, Dr Bhekilizwe Ndlovu, emphasised the need for intentional mental fitness practices within the arts industry.
“Mental fitness is a practice that touches all areas of life, and arts are one of them. Someone who is in the arts industry obviously engages the brain a lot, they are thinking continuously, you can then not use a tool and never want to ensure that it is strong and fit, you have got to have specific grounding practices that you do in order to bring back the fitness of your brain and your mind and have ideas flow through you because that part of you is fit,” Dr Ndlovu said.
Another key voice in the conversation was renowned local producer and director Saimon Phiri, who called for the reimagination of performance venues to make art more accessible.
“We have had set backs before and after Covid-19, and I think the improvements that need to be that is that people now need to start re-imagining spaces, venues because we are all bent on the convectional venues that were there even before Covid-19 and now we need to re-imagine stuff and then bring artistic products into these more spaces, the parks, streets, the churches and other things that are not just your convectional theatres, Bulawayo City Hall, Stanely Hall or McDonald Hall, so that’s one improvement that i think. Work can then go to the people instead of people going to work,” he said.
Founder of Gobela Arts Development Agency, Bothwell Nkomo, popularly known as Gog’ Bekezela said the event was conceived to expose and address the structural gaps that limit artistic growth.
“The main reason I organised this event is so that I can enlighten people about the things they did not think were the ones that torment us and make our art not grow. The main reason is that we don’t have proper dynamics, and so we need to sit down and plan what’s best for our industry. Talent only is not enough; there is a need for it to be nurtured and developed technically, and in all this, there’s a need for a person who will manage the talent and find opportunities for them, and that’s why we are here,” he said.
As Zimbabwe’s arts sector continues to evolve, initiatives like the Arts Administrators’ High Tea are being hailed as essential platforms for building a more sustainable, inclusive, and mentally supportive creative ecosystem.
