Engagement Fear

“The Engagement Party” was the cleverly chosen theme for the 11th edition of the Harare Festival of Arts, a 5-day festival of high quality.

The officially opening called “Treasure”, brilliantly produced by the South African Brett Bailey, surely engaged thousands of spectators. I do no know how Brett manages to touch the Zimbabwean public. He does not live in Zimbabwe, and besides that he is white. This producer somehow creates words and images with double meanings.

These days, in Africa and the Middle East, engagement has a deeper meaning then the magic of two people coming together in a love relationship. Engagement is about the masses empowering themselves in the streets of Northern Africa and the Middle East. Engagement is about people and their leaders struggling to get rid of the dinosaurs of dictatorial regimes. When you engage you exchange rings, preferably diamond rings. That brings us to the huge diamond fields of Zimbabwe, the biggest treasure of all. The food kitty of the Securocrats.

I watched the show and yes indeed, I got engaged. A fast moving show, full of satire, provocative towards the main player: the saddened character of a headless leader, almost dethroned by age, protected by heartless followers, and watched by the masses who despite their frailness and hunger, managed to empower themselves to dream of a new life.

It was not the type of engagement which we saw in Egypt and other frail states. There were no fists, I did not see anger. I saw tears and uneasy shuffling. People were whispering to each other. A hush-hush public. As if they were part of the show itself. I saw and felt The Fear, so well described by Peter Godwin in his book The Fear. Yes, it ended with hope using beautiful words: “In my African Dream, there is a dream I can follow....”

For me the show was more a question then an answer. In an article in a local paper this was well said by Thembe Sachikonye who wrote: “how will our engagement actualise this African Dream?” In the same issue it was reported that the HIFA offices, the day after the show, had been raided by the police for unspecified reasons. A typical act of the state, fearful as they are of engagement.