The new year often arrives in Zimbabwe wrapped in optimism.
It is announced through church services, family gatherings, street-side celebrations, and, increasingly, through a flood of social media posts declaring fresh starts and big visions.
For artists, the turning of the year traditionally signals reflection: what was made, what was abandoned, what still aches to be expressed.
Yet today, that reflective space is under threat. As Zimbabwe’s creative sector grows more visible online, it is also becoming increasingly dominated by a wannabe celebrity culture, one that prioritises attention over artistry, performance over process, and image over integrity.
This culture is not unique to Zimbabwe, but its impact here is particularly corrosive.
In an economy where creative work is already precarious, the promise of instant recognition has become seductive.
Many emerging artists are being taught explicitly or subtly that success is measured by followers, invitations, and visibility rather than by craft, contribution, or longevity.
Across music, poetry, comedy, fashion, visual art, and even research-based creative work, there is a growing pressure to be constantly visible.
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Artists feel compelled to post daily, to manufacture controversy, to exaggerate lifestyles, and to perform personas that often bear little resemblance to their lived realities.
The result is an environment where creativity is rushed and shallow. Songs are released before they are ready. Writing is shared before it has matured. Concepts are recycled endlessly because they are “safe” and familiar.
The deeper, slower work of research, rehearsal, revision, and reflection is dismissed as irrelevant in an age obsessed with immediacy.
Zimbabwe’s cultural history stands in sharp contrast to this trend. The artists who shaped the nation’s creative identity were not chasing celebrity.
They were responding to social realities colonialism, liberation, post-independence struggle, faith, humour, loss, and resilience. Their work endured because it was rooted in meaning, not metrics.
Wannabe celebrity culture does not only dilute art; it damages artists. It demands constant performance in a country where many creatives are dealing with economic instability, limited resources, and emotional fatigue.
The pressure to appear successful to look “relevant” creates anxiety, burnout, and disillusionment.
Artists who choose seriousness over spectacle often feel invisible. Those focused on teaching, archiving, mentoring, or building cultural institutions are sidelined because their work does not translate easily into viral content.
Over time, this distorts the creative ecosystem, rewarding noise while neglecting substance.
The new year invites an uncomfortable but necessary question: What kind of creative culture are we building and who is being left behind?
At the heart of the problem lies a crisis of craft. Too many artists are being encouraged to skip foundational development in favour of quick recognition. Yet no creative discipline survives without rigour.
Writers must read deeply and revise relentlessly. Musicians must rehearse, study theory, and perform live. Visual artists must engage with form, history, and technique. Performers must train the body and voice. These processes are often invisible, but they are non-negotiable.
The solution is not to reject technology or visibility, but to refuse the lie that visibility alone is enough.
If the coming year is to mark a genuine creative renewal, Zimbabwean artists, institutions, and audiences must actively reshape the ecosystem. Several practical shifts can help move creativity beyond the cult of celebrity.
Firstly, there is a need to re-centre craft as a value. Arts organisations, festivals, media platforms, and funding bodies must prioritise quality and process over hype.
Reviews, long-form interviews, workshops, and residencies should be given as much attention as trending content. Emerging artists need to see that patience is rewarded.
Secondly, strengthening mentorship and intergenerational exchange is another critical facet of importance.
Zimbabwe has a wealth of experienced artists whose knowledge is underutilised. Structured mentorship programmes formal or informal can counter the isolation and misinformation that fuel shallow ambition. Learning from those who have sustained long careers helps young creatives develop realistic expectations.
Thirdly, there is a need to invest in community-based creative spaces. Celebrity culture thrives on individualism; creativity thrives in community. Poetry collectives, theatre groups, shared studios, and cultural centres provide accountability, feedback, and support. These spaces must be protected and expanded, even when resources are scarce.
Fourth, we need to redefine success publicly. Media plays a powerful role in shaping aspiration.
Newspapers, radio stations, blogs, and digital platforms can highlight process, research, collaboration, and social impact not just personalities. Telling fuller stories about creative labour helps dismantle the myth of overnight success.
Fifth, the Zimbabwean arts scene needs to encourage rest and sustainability. Burnout is not a badge of honour. Artists need permission to pause, reflect, and live. In African worldviews, creation is cyclical. Rest is not failure; it is preparation.
Artists themselves also carry responsibility. The new year is a moment to ask hard questions: Am I building a practice or a persona? Am I learning as much as I am posting? Am I contributing to community or only to my own image?
Choosing depth over hype is not easy, especially in a system that rewards noise. But history shows that meaningful work eventually outlives spectacle.
As Zimbabwe steps into another year, its creative future does not depend on manufacturing stars. It depends on nurturing thinkers, makers, storytellers, and cultural workers committed to honesty, discipline, and community.
Celebrity fades. Craft remains.
The new year does not ask Zimbabwean artists to be louder. It asks them to be truer to their work, their context, and their responsibility to the culture they shape.
In resisting the cult of celebrity, artists reclaim something far more valuable than attention: creative integrity.
Raymond Millagre Langa is a Zimbabwean interdisciplinary artist, independent researcher, and cultural practitioner whose work bridges music, writing, and community-based edutainment. He is the founder of Indebo Edutainment Trust, using creative practice and research to amplify social dialogue, heritage, and youth development.
