Zimbabwean Arts: Too much Mediocrity

I sat yesterday in an audience of about 25 and watched Dudu Manhenga perform as if she was in a stadium with exceptional skill for 3 hours. A guest on the show was Josh Ansley whose artistic nuance is of an exceedingly polished level and it made me realise one thing. Zimbabwean art is mediocre.

Not what I was watching yesterday but a lot of what is recorded as art is simply put, rubbish. It is accepted as being OK because they are trying but in reality a lot of the attempts at being practitioners are a joke. Now I have come across a few artists who I can say take art seriously but a lot of what is out there should not be called there. They are a bunch of louts who have hobbies and expect to be paid for them.

I have seen people who call themselves actors who know nothing about preparation. And I have seen people who claim to sing but I have no idea what vocal practice is. Or even worse, people who perform on stage as if they are in a closet somewhere. And guess what, they expect to be paid for it.

It is the sort of thing that makes you want to pull your hair out.

People put shows together and the basics have not been attended to. Google could fix a few things but they would never have a look at that. Not because of pride, not because of ignorance, but plain stupidity.

It riles me up!

In this day and age, trying is no longer good enough. Being the best and how to do it is not state secret. Why make the same mistakes that others who came long before you made? There are ways round these things now.

Yes, this is a rant!