Farai Mpfunya, February 2010

Working in the Arts and Culture in Africa and in Zimbabwe in particular one wonders whether culture is at all important a subject when many people are dealing with survival issues. Something tells me that the core of our problems has to do with how we live with one another. This does not mean at all that we ignore how others have plundered our resources over centuries in order to enhance their own way of life. I have chosen to define culture as simply the way we chose to live. I believe that, just like individuals can, societies have the ability to influence how wealthy or poor they can be by making sound choices about their culture. If I say, in Zimbabwe, decision makers of the agrarian reform did not pay too much attention to the culture side of agriculture some will disagree just as much as me saying that the architects of the Iraqi War paid little attention to the makeup of the post war culture.

Culture is an important factor in the wealth equation but often considered a soft social issue compared to other issues such as the economy, governance and social inclusion issues.  Zimbabwean media, both state and private, generally cover culture stories as only adding value to society in the form of entertainment!  They must be watching a former British prime minister giving testimony before a commission of inquiry on how he took his country to war in the name of defending a threat to that country’s “way of life”.  But are they making the connection? The French are likely to ban French Muslim women from wearing clothing that covers their head and faces because it threatens secular culture in that country. This is not entertainment. Some are prepared to go to war in its name.

We have entered a new decade in a new century and there will be many written versions of the history of the African nationalist era. I await debate across the continent on the cultural context within which African countries attained independence and how they created societal structures capable of creating wealth post independence. What was the culture of the great African pioneers and how did leadership styles that emerged influence the way of life for future generations? What evidence can be drawn from a meeting at a multi-racial school in Africa, for example?

The discourse around development can be confusing. Few are involved in its response to issues.  In my country, some will tell you that the development agenda is on course because land is in the hands of the majority while others will argue that if the economy has collapsed, you have failed.  Yet, others still, will remind you that real development happens when we stop putting one another in prison and worse!  Who is listening to culture and the arts in a country that saw a billion percent inflation in 2009 before it gave up its currency in favour of Uncle Sam’s. Inflation is now down to a single digit!  Did HIV/Aids wipe a generation because of their culture? What was President Mbeki’s point again on the issue? The World Bank has accepted its share of responsibility in negatively changing African cultures through their structural adjustment programmes – cut back on education and health care!. Should the issue in Haiti be about NGO heroes or seizing an opportunity to tackle the underlying causes behind the culture that emerged in the first free-slave country and who supported or did not, their chosen way of life in the last 200 years!

January is when my wife and I attend the children’s school Parents Association AGMs. Interesting time to test how our fragile race relations have fared in the last year – in Zimbabwe of course. Did the mums and dads get to know one another better? Did they encourage their children to befriend another culture? I was encouraged by the Jewish headmaster at my son’s school who told a predominantly white parents how in 2010 they must all do more to make sure their children’s pass rate in the indigenous language, Shona, improves. There was a little silence there.