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Arts Correspondent —
The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe said preparations for the National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) to be held at 7 Arts Theatre on February 18 have gained momentum.

In a statement, the arts council said adjudication process has commenced and the nominees will be released on February 2.

“A total number of 775 Nama entries were submitted from throughout Zimbabwe and the adjudication process has commenced.

Those who submitted entries include; production houses, studios, music stables, galleries, arts organisations and associations, groups, artistes, monitors and/or the publics. Nominees will be released on February 2 2017,” reads the statement.

“The personalities will battle in the following categories: Music, Literary, Dance, Visual, Film and Television, Theatre, Media and Spoken Word. Two more categories include Special Awards as well as People’s Choice.

“The two Special awards are Arts Service Award and Arts Personality Award.

“People’s Choice award will won by an artist who gets voted by the most people through a plat form that will be announced soon.”

Nama is the platform where National Arts Council of Zimbabwe recognises outstanding achievements within the creative sector. By rewarding excelling artists, Nama stimulates more interest in the arts and raises the profile of the same.

The awards are a means of encouraging creativity and excellence in the quality of the arts, making Zimbabwe a force to reckon with on the international arena.

In addition, the awards aim to inspire artists to strive for higher and original forms of creativity and provide an opportunity for arts disciplines to jointly market and publicise the arts locally, regionally and internationally.

Some of the entries in the mentioned Nama categories were identified by monitors who were appointed by NACZ and kept an eye on excelling artists throughout the year.