Kaingu underscores arts, culture in development
By Abigail Chaponda in Ndola
Mon 27 Sep. 2010, 04:00 CAT
COMMUNITY development minister Michael Kaingu has said Zambia has plenty to offer as a country but poverty will continue to plague the nation for as long as Zambians fail to embrace the country’s arts and culture.
Officiating at the Mukuba Awards festival at Mukuba Hotel in Ndola on Friday night, Kaingu said many economic problems that Zambia was facing were a result of the failure to foster creativity in young people’s minds beginning at an early age.
“Creativity is an essential component of development and as a nation, to achieve development, we are compelled to acknowledge and appreciate the expression of our arts and culture through creativity. It is only through visual art, music, acting, dancing and architecture that every nation preserves its culture,” he said.
“Therefore, events such as this one provide us with an opportunity to empower our artists and propel them to greater heights of creativity which will not only benefit them, but the nation as a whole. We have a duty to empower the young so that they can have the ability to think for themselves, discover, create and take possession of their talents for the betterment of the entire nation and the world at large.”
Kaingu said it would be beneficial to the arts industry if regular festivals, exhibitions, theatre shows, regular tapping of talents on radio and television as well as annual arts competitions were held in every region in the country.
Kaingu implored Zambians to take an interest in supporting arts and culture by procuring Zambian artifacts, attending exhibitions and events, adding that Zambians had a duty to advertise local products to the international community.
“Arts and culture can be a medium for attracting foreign direct investment, which will in turn bring in the much needed foreign exchange.
We need foreign exchange to boost our national economy; we cannot therefore ignore the natural potential that our local arts and culture industry has,” said Kaingu.http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=14068
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