Government representatives from the Censorship Board failed to turn up for a crucial discussion on censorship of artistic work which was held on 9 September in Harare.

Davies Guzha, a renowned theatre producer and actor said they were dismayed that government officials could not turn up for the discussion. He said: “There were central to the discussion at hand and we had hoped that they would come and shed light on a number of issues affecting artists in regard to censorship. The attendance was so impressive, but the agenda failed to live up to expectation as the officials snubbed the gathering.”

The discussion follows on the heels of several reports of government censorship on artistic works, most notably music and theatre. Guzha said: “Artists in Zimbabwe do not know what the censorship board looks at when accessing productions, so this was an opportunity for them to know. We need workshops on censorship so that we know our parameters.”

Several songs by musicians Thomas Mapfumo, Leonard Zhakata, Chirikure Chirikure, Majongwe and several others have been “black listed” by the state broadcaster, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings. Government enjoys monopoly in the electronic media.

Just recently, the Censorship Board banned a political play Super Patriots and Morons that condemns misrule and the abuse of human rights by an unnamed political leader. In rejecting the play the censorship board said: “It is hereby notified that the cinematography, advertisement or public entertainment described has been rejected by the Censorship Board.”

The play was produced by Guzha. He says: “It is more than two weeks now since we appealed to the censorship board and they have not come back to us, which is against their own constitution. They are just silent because we wanted them to fully explain their decision to ban the play.”

The play can now only be performed outside Zimbabwe. Last month the play was staged in Johannesburg, South Africa at the Market Theatre and will soon embark on a regional tour of Zambia, Namibia and Botswana after which it will tour Sweden and Norway.

Shepherd Mutamba, spokesperson for Rooftop Promotions the company promoting the play said the ban had deprived Zimbabweans of a fundamental right to choose arts products of their choice.

He said: “The ban sought to rob our artists of a voice and the freedom of speech. But art has many voices and many faces. It would be foolhardy for any government to think it can ban the work of art.

“The Zimbabwe government cited provisions of the draconian and colonial Censorship and Entertainment Control Act (1967) as the basis for the ban. Yet Super Patriots and Morons premiered in Harare last year without the government raising alarm. Arts critics viewed the ban as a way of silencing what is deemed as ‘inflammatory speech’ ahead of the general elections next year.

Introductory presentation
Discussion: Arts & Censorship Discussion
Where: BOOK CAFÉ, Five Ave Shopping C., Harare, Zimbabwe
When: Thursday 9 September 2004, 5:30-7:00 pm

Have we decided to isolate ourselves from all musical influences?

Since the Censorship Board has become engaged in recent months in reviewing and approving performing arts materials (such as theatre) it has raised some interesting challenges for performing artists. The most obvious question relates to improvised performing arts, such as in comedy, music (where lyrics may be improvised in jazz, mbira, hip-hop and urban grooves rap) and frequently in theatre and performance poetry also, where actors change written lines in a burst of inspiration.

Much of this has hit the arts community recently with alarming rumours that theatre at HIFA 2004 was subject to censorship approval. Dramatists have informally talked about having to send their own scripts to the censorship board, but generally they don't know exactly the censorship board criteria for approval or rejection. Zimbabwean music, like music the world over, is in and of itself an art form that draws inspiration and ideas from other parts of the world. Jazz, specifically, would not exist anywhere in the world without this fusion of musical ideas and forms, since its roots lie in African syncopation and rhythmic expression fused with European harmonic ideas.
But more specifically, Southern African jazz developed precisely because African musicians heard and identified with the brilliance of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Sonny Rollins and others and their revolutionary musical ideas. These ideas were adapted and adopted into African jazz throughout the 1960s and 70s.

Have we decided to isolate ourselves from all musical influences? If we have done this, from whence do we draw our musical identity, given that so much music in the world is universal, not 'national'? Manu Dibango, the great Cameroon saxophonist was asked once to explain why he enjoys performing fusion-jazz/soul, which he calls African Soul, as opposed to strictly indigenous music. He simply said that his music belongs to the world, and the world's music belongs to him and, as an African, this makes him proud. Louis Armstrong, ambassador Satch, said as much on visiting the Soviet Union in the late 1950s, saying, 'Man, it's time we got those cats swinging'.