The inaugural National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) golf day held on Friday was an event hosted to link corporates and artistes in a less formal environment to facilitate possible mutually beneficial deals, organisers have said.
By Kennedy Nyavaya
Nine artistes including Ex-Q, Nutty O and Tammy Moyo took to the Royal Harare Golf Club course in the capital for the event that was put together by Nama planners Jacaranda Culture and Media Corporation (JCMC).
Speaking to Standard Style on the sidelines of the prize-giving ceremony for the players, JCMC MD Napoleon Nyanhi said their idea was hinged on using the high-end sport to position artistes for life-changing linkages.
“The idea for the Nama Golf Day is to create a platform for corporates to interact with artistes. We need our artistes to be funded and to be able to know how to approach corporates, how to speak to them and how to appeal to them the way they want to be appealed to,” he said.
“Artistes may get money from fans, but any artiste who has had an endorsement deal knows that when you get a project funded by a corporate, it propels you much faster than a show or when you are only depending on fans.”
Nyanhi added that they would be hosting similar events frequently in an attempt to get more artistes acquainted with the sport as well as familiarise with other golfers, largely influential businesspeople.
“We have been getting more calls as other artistes ask why we did not invite them and that was the objective so that we create that interest in artistes for this sport. Now in the next year we want to be able to facilitate for more artistes to be able to play so that they actually compete on the course,” he said.
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Through JCMC, Nama has been hosting a couple of arts events in the buildup to next year’s edition of the awards set for February 27.
Nyanhi said these were concerted efforts to capacitate creatives with appropriate tools of the trade so that they could represent and add to the country’s development trajectory.
“When you hear the government or president saying Zimbabwe is open for business, it cannot be achieved until artistes sell the country through their works and that is the quickest way to market Brand Zimbabwe,” he said.
“They sell the culture, who we are and the people. Once they have been accepted worldwide it is so easy for businesspeople to go there, so we want to be part of that by constantly helping them to become and do better.”
