ARTS, CULTURE AWARDS TO BE INTRODUCED THIS YEAR

MBABANE – This year, artists are in for a treat as the Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture (ENCAC) will be introducing their first-ever awards.

This was revealed by ENCAC Arts Manager Vusi Nkambule during the recent arts summit, which was hosted from March 14 to 15, at Julios Cinelux in Manzini. Nkambule was asked to take the podium to share an update on how the council is working with the various arts centres that have just been introduced. He also introduced the arts officers who work in the different centres.

Awards

Nkambule shared that the awards are aimed at empowering and motivating local artists to make a living through their talent. “This year we will be introducing awards in the four regions of the country. These awards will be a way to motivate artists to work hard toward pursuing their dreams. The awards will feature a variety of categories, including traditional dance and the singing of cultural songs. We hope that we will introduce the awards soon because our art centres have already opened in the four regions. The plan is to make these centres a place for unearthing talent and a support pillar for artists,” he said.

In his submissions, Nkambule also revealed that going forward; they will be introducing new equipment in the art centres. He said the equipment will be used by artists to practice and further master how the equipment works. “We have finished building art centres in the four regions of the country. This year, we will be bringing equipment to the different arts centres.
The equipment will include musical instruments such as keyboards, drums, and cameras. This equipment will be used by artists to practice and further use it for their own production. Our wish in these art centres is for them to be offices as well as spaces where artists can work,” Nkambule said.

He further mentioned that they have now seen growth in associations that have been registered under the Arts Council and encouraged artists to join these associations as they will be able to benefit. “Since we started working in arts and culture, we got pointers that artists can survive through their talent. All we do as a council is support these artisans by showing them how much better we can work together. In our office, we have 18 associations, and they are focusing on seven codes, which include performing arts, dance, theatre, visual arts, copyright, and business, to name a few.

Performing

In these associations, emaSwati is working towards finding consensus on how they can make money through their talent. The associations are also there to look at how we can promote and protect the interests of artists. They are also there to advocate for artists when they have to get paid for performing. We urge artists to join the associations so that they can be supported by the council as a collective,” Nkambule said.

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