Jacaranda Culture and Media Corporation (JCMC) are the new event managers for the National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) in a five-year partnership set to take off next year, it has emerged.
JCMC, the hosts of Dream Star, a revered annual talent show in its sixth edition this year, inked the deal following the National Arts of Council Zimbabwe’s (NACZ) call for event managers to host the premier arts awards ceremony in the country.
According to The Standard Style, JCMC representative Tinashe Kitchen said the organisation was ready to stage a show that “all Zimbabweans can be proud of”.
“We were fortunate enough to win the contract and we believe that our track record as the hosts of Dream Star Zimbabwe and other promotions such as the annual Chinese New Year demonstrates that we are more than capable of producing an international showcase that all Zimbabweans can be proud of,” he said.
Although Kitchen could not be drawn into explaining in detail what their plans for next year’s Namas are, he said they would be embarking on a campaign to “Take the Nama to the People” in the new era.
“The people of Zimbabwe must take back ownership of the Nama as their awards; awards that they played a part in,” he said.
“As such, we will be hosting a variety of outreach and community-based programmes that will give an opportunity to all arts stakeholders to tell us about their concerns with the Nama.”
Namas, a brainchild of the NACZ, have been running unceasingly for close two decades now and they have attracted a great deal of praise as much as criticism.
Some of their downsides over the years have been cited as the lack of glitz and glamour and this is where JCMC’s capabilities will be brought to the test.
“The Nama as an award and a ceremony will experience a new birth, a renaissance of sorts,” said Kitchen.
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