THE coronavirus that has hit the world and the region, is
affecting Zimbabwean artistes as most of their international tours have been
cancelled leading to loss of business.
Covid-19 has
significantly impacted arts and culture programming internationally, having
implications on mobility, access to public spaces and the flow of cultural
goods and services.
The US President Donald Trump declared a national emergency
as there have been at least 61 deaths, so did his Canadian counterpart Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau who on Sunday said he would not rule out closing
borders to combat a coronavirus outbreak. Italy, the worst affected European
country, has recorded more than 1 800 Coronavirus-related deaths so far and
expects some 90 000 infections by the end of April. Zimbabwe has not recorded a
case of Covid-19.
Imbube outfit Black Umfolosi, Iyasa, Insingizi, Winky D,
Freeman, Mambo Dhuterere and ExQ are among artistes whose tours to the United
Kingdom, Canada and United States of America have been cancelled due to the
spread of Coronavirus.
One of the Black
Umfolosi leaders, Sotja Moyo said they are devastated after their international
tour was cancelled because of the virus.
“Our booking has been cancelled until further notice. We
were supposed to travel to the United Kingdom, USA and Canada. But all that has
been stopped because of the Coronavirus.
“Our agents are saying perhaps they can push our
performances to November thereabout. We shall see,” said Moyo. He said this was a huge blow to their careers as they rely
a lot on tours.
“The financial setback with regards to the cancellation is
massive. As the world markets are also counting their losses, we too are
counting our losses. We rely so much on this money from the tours.”
Butholezwe Nyathi, the director of the National Gallery of
Zimbabwe in Bulawayo said their resident artists sell most of their craft to
tourists and as such will be greatly affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
He said the dwindling tourist arrivals means reduced sales
for the artists.
“It means loss of business for aristes who thrive on
selling their works to tourists and the Gallery also thrives on numbers,” said
Nyathi.
Visual artist, George Masarira said since the outbreak of
Coronavirus his sales had dropped drastically.
“We get money from tourists but they aren’t coming to the
gallery of late. Those who send us money from overseas also can’t do so because
of the lockdown in the Western world,” Masarira said.
Artistes such as Iyasa are also on the edge as their
four-month tour of Europe is hanging in the balance. Their base Austria has
banned all public gatherings, closed schools, universities and people are being
encouraged to stay at home meaning they are going to be inactive for some time.
Those found violating the law will be fined in excess of €2000.
Italy, where Austria-based Insingizi Imbube trio was set to
perform, is the worst affected. The country has been put on lockdown.
In South Africa, President Ramaphosa on Sunday night,
declared a national state of disaster, imposing travel bans on some nationals,
shutting schools and banning public gatherings of more than 100 people. Some
festivals across the Limpopo have been postponed or cancelled. Cape Town
International Jazz Festival which was supposed to take place next week is among
the events which have been affected.
In the kingdom of ESwatini, the MTN Bushfire Festival which
was slated for May 28-30 has been
postponed to next year due to the coronavirus.
In the United Kingdom, the Y2K Promotions Sama festival
which features a series of local artistes, has been postponed. The show which
was supposed to take place next month would have featured Winky D, Mambo
Dhuterere, Freeman, ExQ and Baba Harare. Chronicle
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