By Sam Banda Jnr & Jimmy Chazama:
The School for Arts project whose foundation stone was laid in 2017 in Lilongwe is yet to take shape with no groundwork as of now.
With the designs done in 2017, Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma) has been pushing for support from the government.
But despite this setback, Cosoma spokesperson Catherine Mitungwi insisted that the project is making headway as they were working hand in hand with the Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture through Department of Arts.
“The project has delayed but there is progress for sure. We will give you updates as we go forward,” Mitungwi said.
In 2023, Cosoma Head of Documentation and Distribution Shadrick Kumtengo indicated that they were looking for development partners in the construction of the school whose site is at Cosoma offices.
Kumtengo also said then that the budget in 2017 was at K5 million but, with inflation, the budget had moved to K5 billion.
Director of Arts Humphrey Mpondaminga said they were still working on modalities to procure consultants although he admitted there were technical hitches on the ground.
He said the School for the Arts is being developed through the National Arts and Cultural Centre project.
“We look forward with hope that the coming financial year we will make substantive progress on the designs as well as the procurement of contractors for the project component, since it is a project carrying different other projects,” Mpondaminga said.
He said the project is crucial to the creative sector as there is need for arts infrastructure.
“We need arts infrastructures even in districts to generate income that will add value to the economy. We are hopeful that we will see much more in the years to come and this is also cemented by the passing of the National Arts and Heritage Council Bill last year,” Mpondaminga said.
He added that the School for the Arts project is part of trying to address the infrastructure needs.
“Malawi has never had national arts facilities and so this is part of the process,” Mpondaminga said.
He also said this initiative is crucial because, as a nation, we need arts infrastructure, even in districts, to generate income that will add value to the economy.
Last year during the national conference for the creative industries, creatives also spoke at length on infrastructure development for the arts as part of creative sector development.
Cosoma developed the School for the Arts concept after looking at the tertiary education system in the country that requires some minimum qualifications for creatives to be enrolled into the programmes.
Last year, University of Malawi in its quest to help elevate the creative sector through the School of Arts, Communication and Design introduced six new undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degrees.
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