TAWANDA MARWIZI
A picture of the late Lawrence Simbarashe, popularly known as Bhonzo roaming the streets of Harare asking for help still rings in several people’s minds.
A popular actor at his peak in the 90s, Bhonzo bought top of the range cars and lived a lavish life. But this all changed into a sad story.
That has been the case for most Zimbabwean artistes whose careers have ended on a sad note.
However, this should not be the case. Artistes should be able to shift from being ordinary creatives, whose full joy is in expressing themselves and move to being monetised creatives.
Gone are the days when artistes would get money and squander as there is a need to prepare life after your career.
Oliver Mtukudzi built Pakare Paye Arts Centre in Norton, an investment that will make his family survive in case he retires from the music industry. The musician has managed to monetise his talent. “I don’t know how much I invested on this project because I did not build it in one day. I would channel money I got from shows towards the development of this project,” the musician was quoted in an interview.
Renowned sculptor Dominic Benhura bought a house in Greendale and turned it into an arts gallery. To date, students from different places go there to learn more about art and several other issues.
“Stone work used to sell a lot and it was during that time when I bought this house and turned it into an Art Gallery. This was because I wanted a place where people come and buy my pieces as well as having enough space to work on,” he said.
There are a number of avenues musicians can explore as way of investments. Government needs to combine forces with associations that represent artistes to hold seminars and workshops where artistes are taught investment alternatives
