Nhimbe is an arts education organization and a leader in cultural policy research, training and advocacy and in the promotion and defence of freedom of creative expression.
Vision:
We envision a dynamic creative sector where all children and young people in Zimbabwe are engaged with the arts as practitioners and audience members. Since the launch of the Nhimbe strategic plan on arts education in 2010 and the groundbreaking civil society cultural policy review conference, Nhimbe has recorded the following two major milestones in the area of cultural policy research and advocacy: 1.In May 2010, Nhimbe, in collaboration with the Bulawayo Arts Forum and with the financial support of Pro Helvetia and the technical support of the Observatory of Cultural Policies in Africa (OCPA) and Arterial Network, hosted a two-day seminar in Bulawayo to review the status and implementation of the National Cultural Policy of Zimbabwe.
After the seminar, Nhimbe saw the need for continued collective dialogue on how to address the challenges faced by stakeholders in the arts and culture sector in Zimbabwe. Nhimbe proceeded to involve cultural scholars in conceptualising the process of engaging creative civil society in Zimbabwe and in undertaking a comprehensive SWOT analysis of the sector in order to recommend strategies that could be adopted to address the challenges identified. 2.In May 2011, Nhimbe in partnership with the Observatory of Cultural Policies in Africa and Arterial Network, and with funding from the British Council and Mimeta, convened three high profile consultative meetings of creative civil society leaders and practitioners. The consultative meetings were followed by a validation conference (Zimbabwe Creative Sector Conference on the Formulation of the Plan of Action for Arts and Culture), which was held in Harare in May 2011.