Zanzibar artists fight for tourist cash

Tourism is now Zanzibar's biggest industry - easily outstripping the trade in spices, traditionally the Tanzanian island's biggest foreign currency earner.

But local artists complain that they are not able to reap the rewards from the tourist boom.

They say that most of the art on sale is mass produced and has little relevance to the island's culture.

The so-called "tourist art" is ruining their livelihood, they claim.

'Commercial artist'

Saidi Omary, 24, paints up to 15 pieces of "tourist art" a week.

"I am a commercial artist, I paint what is marketable," he said.

"I do create original works but they don't sell quickly which is bad because I need the money."

Despite the thriving tourism industry, the island is still very poor.

The average wage is just 60 US cents a day and it is not surprising that artists are turning out effortless reproductions that they can sell for a few dollars.

Awareness
But some artists working in Zanzibar deplore this commercial approach to art.


Artist Hamza Ausiy is dismissive of "tourist art" and says it is ruining his business.

"For me tourist art is boring and confusing, because if you are an artist, you have a dream and creativity but if you do this sort of work you are always looking for bread," he said.

He says his canvases - which cost $200 or more - are all original artworks and feature exclusively Zanzibari scenes.

Artists selling the original works have now got together to form an association to promote their work.

Musa Ramadhan is secretary of the Zanzibar Young Artists Association.

He says artists should be selling to the local market, even if their volumes are small.

"We need to create awareness among the local people to make them like our art and even hang our works in their homes," Mr Ramadhan said.

He says artists in Zanzibar need to change and create ideas from their culture.

"People on this island like religion we should put religion in our pictures," Mr Ramadhan recommends.

For the time being though, the art market in Zanzibar is driven by the hoards of artists selling mass-produced art.


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Taste of Zanzibar

For authentic halal east African cuisine, the Taste of Zanzibar is the place to go. The dishes reflect the rich heritage found in this ancient part of Tanzania from the spices to the staples, namely chapatti and rice.


When we walked into this eating experience we had little knowledge of this culture's culinary facets, yet we left with a deeper understanding of the fusion of flavors and components that earmark this cuisine. We felt very comfortable in the casual setting and knew that we were in good hands.

More info visit here

Fegi

Zanzibar will resonate to Mutoko’s gospel beat

DUBAI-based gospel musician John “Mr Fantastic” Mutoko could be among the few Zimbabwean artists to tour East Africa when he stages shows in Tanzania and Uganda this week.

Mutoko is expected to be in Tanzania on Wednesday ahead of gigs in Zanzibar and Dodoma.

The Zanzibar stop-over will see the musician performing at Mnazi Mmoja Sports Centre on Friday while on Saturday he goes to Old Fort. The only show in Dodoma is slated for Dodoma Stadium on Sunday.

The musician was upbeat about his maiden show in East Africa saying he would work with popular gospel musicians from both countries.

“The exciting thing about my shows in Tanzania is that I will perform alongside Wanguchi Mbogo who is very popular in that country.

“I feel so much honoured to be on stage with such a talented and respected gospel musician,” said Mutoko.

“It is my first time to perform in that country but I have been following Mbogo’s music for sometime and I know we will be able to stitch our performances in an exciting way.

“We have planned to do a duet and I will use the tour as groundwork to that arrangement.

“It is the beginning of a good partnership and I hope we will be able to stage shows together in Zimbabwe.”

In Uganda Mutoko is expected to join gospel musicians from that country that include Kampala-based choir, The Living Sound Gospel Singers, which is led by the popular Steven Ogwang.

The group is well known for its successful international tours that have seen it performing in Europe and the United States over the past two decades.

The Uganda shows are set for Entebbe and Mbarara on July 10 and 11 respectively.
Mutoko said he would use the tour to shoot some videos for his songs since he is putting together a video album titled The Voice of Silence.

“I have been shooting the videos in different parts of the world for the past four months.

“Although the audio album has eight songs, the video album will have 12 including two new releases.

“I will also pick songs from my previous albums but one of the new songs is titled Ngochani Mwana Waani.

“This song takes a swipe at gays. I am surprised that some people who call themselves Christians are openly supporting gays.

“In this song, I make a straight point that it is a sin before God because from the beginning normal marriages and love relationships have been between opposite sexes. I strongly condemn gays.”

Speaking about his annual tours to Zimbabwe, Mutoko said he might not perform back home in the near future claiming that his last shows had been disrupted in unclear circumstances.

“Something unusual happened when I was in Zimbabwe. Some unidentified people came to one of my shows and confronted me.

“They demanded explanations to (the meaning of) some of my songs that include Pasi Idandaro and Mweya Wangu Chizorora.

“The songs attack social ills but I do not target anyone. I feel that anything that corrupts the society should be exposed.

“I am a Christian musician and not a politician. But you know, whenever dry bones are mentioned old people feel uneasy.”

Mutoko says he cut short his last tour because he feared for his life since he was not sure about the motive of the people who disrupted his show.