Live & Fluid, Kudita seeks emancipation of the arts
By Showbiz Writer
A multi-genre television show Live & Fluid Arts is set to be launched soon by Bulawayo based writer, musician and broadcaster Admire Kudita.
Live & Fluid is the flagship project of Culture Beat Africa Multimedia, a content production organisation whose over-arching goal is the monetisation of the creative sector through its concepts and platforms.
The show whose pilot project is already online will host various artistes with curated live performances on stage.
Kudita who is also a columnist for Showbiz described the show as an entertainment variety show.
“It is a Pan African entertainment variety show; a multi-genre showcase of curated live performances on one stage drawing from an African talent pool beginning with Bulawayo. Artistes are invited from the categories of music, dance and spoken word (slam poetry/comedy). Our basic criteria involves selecting artistes whom we feel represent excellence and an aspirational quality. The performances are curated which means we have input into the aesthetics of the presentations to fit our vision,” Kudita said.
Kudita said they are now in engagement with various broadcasters to see where they can screen the show.

Admire Kudita
The pilot project, Kudita said, was shot after the 2015 trial run which saw artistes like Calvin and Afro-urban Mzoe 7 and Zima winner DJ Skaiva gracing the stage, a regular monthly platform in the National Gallery in Bulawayo’s idyllic venue.
Kudita said the show would feed off Bulawayo’s vast pool of talent that he preferred to call “virginal”
“Speaking on what I know best, Bulawayo is a total arts heaven…virginal if you like! In terms of talent the quality is very high. Here is but an example: Insingizi sold 200 000 units of their album released in Austria. They received platinum discs. But who knows this?” he quipped.
“Bulawayo groups are actually touring overseas and playing to audiences that are not Zimbabwean exiles or part of the Diaspora. There are theatre, dance and film creatives doing big things all without mainstream media support.
“The lesson is simple: Zimbabwe must learn to play to its strengths. This could be California…a place of dreams. We have the human resources and now what’s needed are inclusive concepts. Concepts drive the creative sector. Whether it’s music, theatre or film.”
Kudita said he believed that Zimbabweans had the pedigree to be at the top.
“Now I believe that organisation is critical. We have to develop networks and synergies. The whole must be seen to be greater than the sum of its parts. Great art is transcendent,” he said.
“Bulawayo can positioned as the mecca of creativity and we also need training of creative workers to foster what will become an industry. We need the institutional framework that is deliberately put together to produce the desired outcome of monetising the sector.”
He said Zimbabwe has to be encouraged by success stories like the one of Disneyland and lamented the numerous hurdles that one has to overcome to simply set up a company.
“The billion dollar franchise started with a cartoon character from a young boy’s over active imagination: Mickey Mouse. Walter E. Disney was a small town boy from rural Kansas in the U.S.
The rest is history but out of that has emerged theme parks, film production studios, record labels and merchandising. It’s an entertainment monster now,” Kudita said.
Please watch pilot here
“Of course it took decades to get there but we need to have a society that encourages creativity and innovation. Right now what I see is a country where it takes three months to set up a company. Our neighbours South Africa take one to two days only. Why does that persist? It’s too hostile an environment we have here. It’s got to change.”
He said due to scarcity of resources as head of strategy for Culture Beat Africa, he firmly believed in a theory that exploring the intersection between arts, culture and tourism was another path towards monetisation.
“I therefore think we need to cultivate partnerships built on professional bonafide relationships. Networking is cliched but vital. It’s often done in a predatory manner. Credibility is key and this is direct result of trust. It’s a small sector in which everyone knows everyone. So reputation is everything,” Kudita said.
