GWERU – Two Gweru based multi-award winning artists, Keith Zenda and Ignatius Chamunorwa
Musonza have been nominated for the 21st National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) to be held at the
Harare International Conference Centre on February 25 this year.
NAMA is a product of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) which aims to recognise
outstanding achievements within the arts sector by rewarding excelling practitioners’ thereby
encouraging creativity and excellence in the quality of the products.
Zenda and Musonza are among the list of outstanding artists nominated for the period 1 December
2021 to 30 November 2022, released on February 7.
Zenda was nominated in the Outstanding Mixed Media for his work, Looking Behind the Pot. Other
nominees for the same award are Terrence Musekiwa (Mysterical Revealer) and Justin Gope (A Long
Way 2).
Zenda has also been nominated for the Outstanding Exhibition named Bold and Beautiful which he
curated with Philip Butler.
Musonza was nominated in the Outstanding Fiction Book award together with Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu
(The Quality of Mercy Vol 2) and Raisedon Baya (Intwasa Short Stories)
The Mkoba based visual artist Zenda was recently saluted by the Vice President Retired General
Constantino Chiwenga after he presented a portrait with his face at the Jikinya Arts Festival in
Gweru.
Zenda has won many awards including one from the National Gallery of Zimbabwe and Freedom
Revisited Competition and Exhibition Award.
Local author Musonza has published several other books, including a series of children’s books with
different publishers. Some of the books include Tariro Abiwa, a Wall of Water and Stories From The
East And West among others.
The 97-page thriller novel Chapwati, is his 15th book in hybrid Shona language, in a career spanning
more than a decade. Chapwati means a clap in the vernacular language.
Musonza is a three time, NAMA nominee and other international awards. He is the founder and
chairperson of Gweru International Book Fair, (GIBF) and is actively involved in nurturing aspiring,
young artists in different fields.
Some of the awards include, dance, visual arts, spoken word, media, theatre, literary, film and
television, music and special awards
Meanwhile, Outstanding Female Musician nominees are Feli Nandi, Dorcas Moyo and Sandra
Ndebele. The Outstanding Male Musician nominees are Mark Ngwazi, Braveman Chizvino Mawanza
aka Baba Harare and Energy Silvester Chizanga aka Freeman.
The Outstanding Song nominees are Tirikutandarara by Dorcas Moyo, Fire Emoji by Tavonga Leo
Magombedze (Leo Magozz), Farai Gadzani (Bling 4) and Brian Kadyamarunga (Brian Jeck) and
Zimbabwean Queen by Energy Silvester Chizanga (Freeman) and Chris Martin.
The Outstanding Album nominees are Zimbabwean Giant by Braveman Chizvino Mawanza aka Baba
Harare, David and Goliath by Energy Silvester Chizanga aka Freeman and Nharo Nezvine Nharo by
Mark Ngwazi.
