Zimbabwe postpones NAMAs

The 18th edition of the event, which was slated for 16 February, will now be held on 23 March at the Harare International Conference Centre.

“The initial date as per the NACZ usual calendar was 16 February and the ceremony has been moved forward due to logistical planning,” NACZ acting communication and marketing manager Cathrine Mthombeni said. “This year’s NAMA theme is African Royalty and it speaks of the quality and competitiveness of art products in Africa.

“The world is hungry for Zimbabwean works of art, from music, film, visual arts, dance, literature, among others, and these should be packaged and marketed accordingly. The theme also speaks about our artists who produce work that tells the proudly Zimbabwean story in a quality and global standard.”

Mthombeni said the NACZ had received 1 436 entries ahead of this year's awards. Those who had submitted included production houses, studios, stables, galleries, organisations, associations, groups, artists and the public.

“Some of the entries were identified by monitors who were appointed by the NACZ and kept an eye on excelling artists throughout the year. Meanwhile, independent adjudicators have been going through the entries in order to come up with winning entries leading to the announcement of nominees,” she said.

In a related development, the inaugural Star FM Music Awards were postponed following the death of Oliver Mtukudzi last week. The awards ceremony was initially scheduled for 25 January but was moved to 1 February.

“In response to the national mood, we have seen it fit to postpone the Star FM Music Awards that were scheduled on 25 January. We are moving the awards to Friday 1 February,” Zimpapers radio division general manager Comfort Mbofana told a local publication last week.