Harare

All week I have been listening to the heart rending reports on the BBC Radio 4 Today show directly from Zimbabwe - of course, they reinforce that what I saw is not the whole story: I am completely aware of that - but, although I don't want to be Pollyanna-ish about this, the fact remains that the experience that we had on our extraordinary visit there was that, in the areas in which we worked and played (Harare city centre and Vic Falls, respectively) everyone talked about a sense of slowly growing optimism - that the National Unity Govt is making things different - the fear is receding, in the city centre at least - the BBC and others are right to foreground the terrible damage in every sense but it's not the only truth - and real change will only come with real investment and it seems real investment will only come when foreign governments are convinced that change is happening - and their refusal to help till then just means that more children die every day -

I wrote this a couple of weeks ago when I was full of the excitement of working in Harare but had no clues how to blog - so now I do know, I still think it worth posting, even if it is a bit late!
Sunday 24 May 2009: It is simply humbling to be here in Harare - despite everything that's happened, life goes on - in the city, and of course outside the city it will be v different, but here... People are walking around in couples and family groups (it's Sunday); sun is shining; there is evident poverty but not the folorn-ness that so often goes with it and there are clear signs of a still relatively comfy middle class; the hotel is right in the heart of the city and has clearly seen better days - but the staff are gorgeous and friendly - it's as though noone has told them that times have changed - so you still get a suite, not a room - the bathroom fittings are rusting, the springs in the sofa are gone (bit of a surprise when you sit!), the Hotel directory still offers wifi but they smile regretfully: am sorry madam, that service is currently unavailable. The ads in the lift promote the restaurant with photos of a profusion of food, most of which is 'currently unavailable' and the restaurant stands empty with more than 20 tables fully laid up for silver service whilst three restaurant staff stand together in desultory chat, dressed in old style English uniforms, madly inappropriate for this weather - no A/C of course; the pool sparkles in the photo but the reality is a sad, empty dried up space, showing real signs of neglect; I've been worrying because I left my hairdryer in UK but the Hotel Manager puts it into perspective when, as part of the welcome, he warns us there may not be enough water to shower in - but over and above all that, am overwhelmed with the sense of privilege of being here at this time - Ignatius, Dep Director British Council, is divine and I am deeply in love - he is also an award-winning poet and writer and it shows - intelligence, sensitivity and a deep caring concern for both artists and the future of his country is evident from the moment you meet him - he picked us up himself instead of sending the BC driver - am wondering how we convert this to real partnership instead of just flying in and delivering a contract - suddenly, a real rush of feeling that what we are starting here might really matter way beyond our normal raison d'etre; can we really help to make a difference?.....I suppose in the end it's a question of watch this space - but come on CIDA - let's do something special, something real.....

So, after all this time, my note still seems to convey the impact of actually being in Harare at this time in their history. Perhaps idiotically, I want to share this with CIDA friends and supporters to illustrate how the world wide family of creative entrepreneurs shares values irrespective of economic environment and cultural background. It is extraordinary, inspiring and informative - and I think potentially powerful – let’s see what this community can do -

A colleague in the States is thinking of inviting me to speak at a conference he is running later this year and wants to know what my theme would be - since they are particularly interested in the role of the arts in other sections of the economy and society, I thought I'd try out an elaboration of what we were discussing last week: it goes something like this:

CIDA exists to help creative people change the world –
We do this by giving them the knowledge, skills, confidence and opportunities to change the way people think.
Together, we enable governments, communities, businesses and individuals to do things differently.
We place creativity at the heart of all our futures.

I wonder if that works - I want us all to be clear that the reason we get out of bed in the morning is to help creative people earn their living from their creativity. But, inevitably, most of the time our fees come from governments, quangos and communities who want us to help them develop their own creative economies, sometimes by helping their artists and creative communities to become better at the entrepreneurial and business aspects of their work; sometimes by helping them to create the infrastructure for developing a strong creative community/economy, whether through skills development, business support or workforce development; and sometimes by introducing the skills of creative people to more traditional business or community environments - whether that be stimulating creative thinking in local communities for the Renaissance of their towns and cities, or inspiring and supporting businesses to introduce innovation into their company as a critical but do-able management process that helps them to survive and prosper.

Primary market - creative people; secondary market - governments, communities, businesses and individuals -

Does that make sense?

Just had fab week with CIDA Board and staff reviewing what we've done and where we want to go - revelatory, challenging and inspiring - we have a very strong team at the moment and a group of regular associates who know us well, share our values and who play an incredibly important part in helping us to achieve what we set out to do. Big debate over core purpose - I think it's 'CIDA exists to help creative people change the world' - a lot of argument from marketing oriented people who seemed to confuse our primary and secondary markets - our primary market is the creative community, giving them the knowledge, skills, confidence and opportunity 'to change the world' - but our secondary market, through whom our primary market wreaks its transformational impact, is the range of governments, institutions, quangos, foundations etc who commission us to help develop their creative economies in whichever way they wish to do it - but for which work we always involve our creative allies - so artists, creative practitioners and independent creative thinkers are all part of the CIDA team, mentoring, advising, inspiring, innovating, designing and facilitating individuals, businesses and communities of all kinds 'to change the world'!