ENTRIES for the National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) 15th edition, scheduled for February 13 next year, have surpassed last year’s admissions by 478, National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (Nacz) spokesperson, Catherine Mthombeni has said.
Mthombeni said they had received 1 104 entries from across the country for the eight categories, compared to last year’s 626 ahead of the November 30 deadline.
The dance category had 75 entries, theatre 125, media 35, spoken word 37, visual 204, film and television 255, literary arts 43 and music 330 submitted by production houses, studios, stables, galleries, organisations, associations, groups, artistes, monitors and members of the public.
Mthombeni said the increase in entries could be an indication of people gaining confidence in Nama after selecting reputable, knowledgeable and experienced judges for last year’s 14th edition.
“Nacz this year established a Nama office, whose responsibility is sorely to deal with Nama issues that also involved scouting for works by more institutional and individual monitors,” she said.
Mthombeni said the names of nominees in all the categories would be released in the first week of February next year.
The awards are meant to honour outstanding achievements within the creative sector to encourage creativity and excellence in local arts.Source: NewsDay
