16 DAYS 2013, THE AFTERMATH

"We are human beings before we are anything else, as artists we have a social responsibility to speak against social ills that are overwhelming us daily.  Many of us come from families, communities that are riddled with violence and what a better way to give voice to these issues than through art be it dance, music, film, spoken word, theatre," said the FLAME Gender Project Officer.

Indeed 16 Days has come and gone but the increasing number of abuse especially that of children is saddening.  Everyday the press is filled with stories of children and women being raped, molested and murdered which makes this everyone's issue.  The FLAME project each year engages with artists to add their voice against the violation of human rights in whatever form.  2013 was no different, FLAME staged 16 Events around 16 Days of activism at the Book Café in Harare with music shows, film screenings, workshops and a poetry event.

The highlight of this year's events was the visit by the awesome Jamaican dub-poetess, d'bi. young Anitafrika.  Not new to Harare, having been in the country in 2012 during the Poetry Africa Tour(UKZN), d'bi.young introduced her SORPLUSI workshop to Harare: an approach that looks at the personal, spiritual and political face of the artist.  d'bi quickly became a darling of many of the local artists with her easy going, loving and positive energy leading into collaborations and a lot of conversations especially about art.

For the first time, FLAME managed to engage two women poets from Bulawayo, Noshawekazi Damasane and Primrose Koketso Mpofu who took part in the Human Rights Poetry slam with Primrose coming out as the second luckiest poet on the day.

Here are some of the highlights from this year's events:

Cindy Munyavi performs at Sistaz Open Mic: World Aids Day Commemoration

Kessia Masona performs at the first ever show for Women Comedians
 

SORPLUSI Workshop with d'bi.young Anitafrika
 

Nomashawekazi Damasani(Lady Tshawe) performs at the Human Rights Poetry Slam

Primrose Koketso Mpofu performs at the Human Rights Poetry Slam

3 G3NERATIONS with Clare Nyakujara, Uzanele Manhenga, Dudu Manhenga: Human Rights Concert

d'bi.young Anitafrika performs at the Human Rights Concert

d'bi.young collaborates with Victor Kunonga: Human Rights Concert

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the artists who took part in the 16 Days events as well as the Canadian Embassy for their invaluable support in bringing d'bi.young to Harare.  Many thanks also go to our long-time partner Women Film Makers of Zimbabwe (WFOZ) for the films screened during the 16 days: Africaid for the "How to dance" video screened to mark World Aids Day and the Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) for the 16 Days Toolkit.

The struggle continues everyday moving to a place where art must become conscious in addressing issues of violations against human rights across gender in every sphere.

Batsirai E Chigama
Gender Project Officer
for PAMBERI TRUST