Mimeta has in former years been partner of The Harare Book Café, and witnessed the popular position of the extensive art scene. In recent time the relations to HIFA has evolved, and in 2017 we entered an agreement for cooperation.
The direct beneficiaries of the Festivals will amount to between 45,000 and
50,000 audience members
The core of HIFA is a 6-day annual festival and workshop programme that showcases the very best of local, regional and international arts and culture in a comprehensive festival programme of theatre, dance, music, circus, street performance, fashion, spoken word and visual arts.
The institution has come to be seen as an important symbol of something positive about Zimbabwe, unifying socially and culturally disparate groups of Zimbabweans at a time of ideological conflict and political uncertainty bringing huge audiences together to celebrate something positive – the healing and constructive capacity of the arts.
Since its inception in 1999, the Festival has received recognition for its support of arts and culture in Zimbabwe and is seen as a major contributor to development in this area. HIFA is now the largest cultural event in Zimbabwe and among the eight major festivals in Africa.
While being known as a Festival, is in essence an overall organization that holds status of non-profit, and is monitored by a Board of Trustees. In achieving the organization’s aim of promoting professional career development opportunities for
Zimbabwean artists through the provision of cultural infrastructure, it was decided that an annual international arts platform/festival would be the best vehicle for exchange of ideas, development of the cultural industries sector and encouragement/building of new audiences.
Through the Festival and Festival projects, HIFA aims to use the arts as a tool for positive expression, reaching large Zimbabwean audiences, contributing to dialogue and social change on a wider scale, encouraging dialogue and exchange between civil society, the artistic community and the State. The majority of activities happen in the lead up to and during the Festival that takes place around the end of April each year. Following the Festival conclusion, HIFA conducts meetings with artists/arts practitioners/consultants to the Festival/stakeholders in order to assess future activities and how HIFA can move forward in the context of a very ‘fluid’ Zimbabwe. Based on these meetings, the Festival then executes other events to ensure its survival and continue support for artistic and cultural growth.
