SPEECH BY HIS WORSHIP HARARE MAYOR CLLR BERNARD MANYENYENI AT THE ROOFTOP PROMOTIONS GROUND BREAKING CEREMONY, 7 OCTOBER, 2014 Welcome you all to this ground breaking ceremony of the new Theatre in the Park venue. I am overwhelmed to be part of this momentous event because once the building is up we shall all use it to promote Harare. Since you have restricted my talk time to less than 10 minutes, I will go straight into the issues and reserve issues about the history and purpose of this centre to others. Mr Guzha and his team deserve special mention because this building is going to promote Harare as a centre of excellence for theatre lovers. As a Council we are promoting destination Harare – and what an addition to our profiling. Brand Harare is going to benefit immensely as I am told international performing artistes are willing to come to Zimbabwe to showcase their talent in the proposed building. I urge you to use this centre to promote budding talent in our youth and discover any untapped talent in the elderly as well. I hope you will venture into high density suburbs like Mbare, Highfield and Mufakose in search of talent. Be as inclusive as possible. Artistes play a critical role in urban centres as they promote inclusivity, democracy and provide escape routes from socio, political and economic problems. People use art to express themselves and talk of the ideal world they want to live in. I am happy your mandate is to enhance artistry, creativity and growth of the arts as well as improving the livelihoods of the artistes. You are the mirror of society and voice of the voiceless through the articulation of issues of social relevance through the arts. The talent that you will groom from this centre should be the brand ambassadors for Harare and Zimbabwe. When you write your plays and other related works – may I appeal to you --- talk about Harare and its abundant beauty? My time is up... So as an obedient artiste I will not concede to an encore. Pangu ndasakura ndapedza.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 11:32:22 +0000