South Africa has been putting pressure on Zimbabwe to adopt a democratic approach to running the country. One of the fundamental aspects of  a democracy is the freedom of press. Without this essential element a country cannot claim to be democratic and fair if its people’s ability to express their views is oppressed. South Africa is being somewhat hypocritical in their conduct, as government backs proposals for a new law aimed at muzzling the press. “If the protection of Information Bill becomes law South Africa will have crossed a dangerous threshold towards a corrupt, dysfunctional and impoverished autocracy.”

Yesterday, I debated whether or not to blog my phone call with the Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF). On the one hand, it felt rude and insensitive and reactive. On the other hand, I was reminded of one of Bev’s favourite Michelangelo quotation, which often inspires our work: Criticise through creating. That is, the notion that it is through speaking up, not keeping quiet, that we inspire change or improvement.

Having just received the programme via email, with a request to put it up on the Kubatana website, I’m pleased I spoke up. It might have been more frustrated than constructive, but at least we know have the programme to share.

Download the Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF) 2010 programme here and make sure you take in some quality international films throughout the coming week.

In Africa, a woman writer is a revolutionary. In writing, the woman writer abdicates the role of being the silent spectator and dares to speak.

In patriarchal Africa, a woman speaking up or speaking at all is a revolutionary, going against the grain, intruding into the space otherwise reserved for her male counterparts – the space to define reality, to critique what is, to celebrate or to denigrate, to demand an audience where one would otherwise be denied.

For every woman who writes, presumes that she has an audience and that in itself – is a radical idea. A woman writer presumes that what she has to say is important, that her view and her voice matters and in writing she claims this space – the space to both speak and to be heard.

So when I write, who is going to shut me up?

The act of writing requires audacity, tenacity and above all, a commitment to one’s work, passion and destination.

To many; writing is an end in itself but to me, writing is a tool, a weapon I wield in a world that does not ordinarily afford women a voice. So of necessity, my writing is mostly protest.

In fact, I believe that my work is more political than it is artistic. It is political in the sense that it challenges the status quo. It is political in the sense that it interrogates social stratification.

It is political in the sense that it examines the power relations that obtain within society – relations that are largely determined by who has resources and who lacks them.

It is political in the sense that it scrutinizes who has choices and who has none, who has options and who has none, who has a voice and who is denied one.

So I write to protest. I write to disagree.

I write to simply state that I think otherwise. I write to flip to the other side of the coin.

In my writing I identify myself as a feminist. I do not make apologies for it. Because feminism as an ideological position reaffirming what I identify with – the pursuit for social justice for women in a world where patriarchy legitimizes the conditions of our subjugation.

Here’s a press release published by the Artists Trust of Southern Africa (ARTSA):

Zimbabwean renowned poet, Albert Nyathi performs on the 17/08/2010 for all of SADC’s Heads of State during the 30th Anniversary of the regional body here in Windhoek, Namibia. He is the only regional artist who has been brought in, in  a landmark arrangement between SADC Secretariat and Artists Trust of Southern Africa (ARTSA).

The Artists Trust of Southern Africa (ARTSA) is a network of artists from the 15 member Southern African Development Community (“SADC”) operating in various artistic disciplines whose main function is to coordinate the development and promotion through smart partnerships, of varied cultural interventions at all levels targeted at artists and to make use of art in all spheres. In particular, ARTSA is involved in the organizing and coordinating and implementation of the rotational SADC Artists Aids Festival which is held on an annual basis.

ARTSA was formed during the Malawi edition of the SADC Artists Aids Festival by stakeholders present as well as through a direct push from the SADC Secretariat present who felt that it was imperative to have an organisation that could be a conduit between themselves (SADC Secretariat) and artists as well as push for the implementation of the SADC Culture Trust Fund.

One of the key objectives of ARTSA is:-
To advocate for artists in the region to interact with governmental structures especially the political leadership, for many a time the cultural industry is always on the back burner and we are treated as a “by the way”. Through platforms and interactions such as the one Albert has been exposed to, we believe we have started reclaiming the regions oneness. To borrow from the poem he will present to the Heads of States, ….”One SADC, One People”..and from SADC Secretariat’s own key driver…”One team, fifteen nations”.

This oneness must resonant within all of SADC’s citizenry and what better way than to do it through our arts and culture.

Recently, ARTSA in partnership with SADC, GTZ and the South African Governments, Department of Sports coordinated cultural events from the region at KeNako Plaza which was situated right in the heart of the International Football Village during the 2010 World Cup. This platform afforded visual artists and performing artists from the SADC region an opportunity to share their spell binding cultural and artistically rich wealth to an appreciative foreign market.

Here’s a poem by Albert Nyathi:

In Silence We Sing

Even the silent ants
Trampled upon by giant elephants
Do sing a silent song

They shall surely know
How to shoot
The great foot
Weighing heavily on them.

I think we could do with this in Zimbabwe, although I suspect our Tweets would end up as bird seed. But really, if you could send Mugabe and Tsvangirai a tweet, what would you say (hmmm don’t be rude now!):

Chavez joins twitter
It is known mainly for transmitting celebrity trivia and narcissism, but in the hands of Hugo Chavez, twitter has become something else: a tool of government. Venezuela’s president has harnessed the social networking and microblogging service for his socialist revolution by encouraging the population to tweet him their concerns. Chavez’s Twitter account, @chavezcandanga has exceeded 720 000 followers after establishing a reputation as a way to bypass bureaucracy and appeal directly to the president. It has been gaining 2 000 followers daily.
Source: The Mail &Guardian

South Sudan is scheduled to have a referendum in January 2011 to decide whether they want to remain part of Sudan, or become a separate nation.

According to Elizabeth Dickson, writing for the Foreign Policy Blog:

South Sudan is utterly unprepared for independence. . . Many Sudan watchers are already labeling it a “pre-failed state.”

But the South Sudan National Anthem Committee has already launched a competition for submissions for its national anthem. Hip Hop artist K Deng is among those preparing an anthem.