The 18th edition of the Harare International Festival of Arts (Hifa), set to run from May 1 to 6, will provide festival-goers with the much needed relief from repressive socio-political realities they have had to face over the years, organisers have said.
By Kennedy Nyavaya
The festival, which will host 14 foreign festival directors on a talent-scouting mission, will run under the theme We Count, which, according to Hifa executive director Maria Wilson, focuses on accountability by counting both the negative and positive experiences in the country through the arts.
“Hifa is a vehicle showing how important and how much the Zimbabweans count in this country and for a long time we have not believed that we count,” Wilson told the media on Wednesday.
“Is it not what we are supposed to be and what politics is supposed to make us feel? We are still a bit sad and I would like to see us a bit happier at Hifa.”
Typically, the programme is reflective of this as it will see banished South African Afro-fusion band Freshlyground performing on stage after they were deported upon arrival in Harare in 2014.
If successful, the development is one of the radical changes to happen in the post-Robert Mugabe era, who during his presidency had put in place mechanisms to thwart any criticism of his person, a bracket under which the band had fallen as a result of their song Chicken to Change.
“There was no particular reason why they [Freshlyground] could not perform then, so all I can say is that there was a lot of irregular stuff that was happening at that time,” said associate executive director Tafadzwa Simba who pledged the group’s presence this time around.
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Meanwhile, the Hifa team also unveiled this year’s Cabs Opera Gala night which is set to take place on the second day of the festival as per tradition.
Wilson said the not-so-popular Hifa feature is there to present opportunities of exploring new artistic frontiers for audiences.
“Does it matter whether you like something or don’t know or understand it [opera]? That is the whole point of this festival,” she said.
“Break down walls between people, artistic genres, races, societal groups, break down the walls because we count, so go and see something that you may not understand.”
