Creatives will have to wait for a long time to have the School for Arts on the ground as construction has not started. The foundation stone was laid in 2017.
Spearheaded by Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma) under the Integrated Arts Project, costs for the construction of the school are expected to rise despite its initial budget being K5 billion.
Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture spokesperson Macmillan Mwale said on Monday that land acquisition, environmental assessments and surveys had been completed.
“Currently, the ministry is working with the Department of Buildings to advertise for consultancy on the development of structural drawings for the four project components,” Mwale said.
In 2023, the copyright body said it was struggling to get development partners to undertake the construction of the School for Arts project. Cosoma Project Officer Shadrick Kumtengo acknowledged the delays but insisted that ground work was necessary.
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“This is a huge project that needs to follow procedures. Cosoma alone cannot fund it; so, we rely heavily on government support,” Kumtengo said.
He said the government had made allocations but that until consultants are recruited, designs finalised and contractors procured, construction cannot begin.
Kumtengo said they were hopeful that, once the preparatory work was finished, the project would finally take off. He said the School for Arts would be there to nurture talent and not to duplicate programmes of other academic institutions such as the University of Malawi, Malawi University of Science and Technology and Music Crossroads.
“The target is an intake of about 300 students across disciplines and the school will operate as a continuous process of training and professional development, ensuring steady growth for Malawi’s creative sector,” Kumtengo said.
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One of the youthful creatives, Azizah Martin, said they were looking forward to the establishment of the School for Arts.
“We need such institutions if we are to grow our arts and creative sector. It is my hope that this will come into fruition soon,” Martin said. Visual artist Peter Wanyanga shared his frustrations on the delays to have the School for Arts on the ground.
“The School for Arts would help us earn professional papers. For other academic institutions, the requirements do not suit us,” Wanyanga, a Zomba-based abstract artist, said.
Hip-hop artist Shonex also said the School for Arts needed to be established soonest to develop talent. Musicians Union of Malawi (Mum) President Vita Chirwa said the concerns raised by budding musicians were valid.
“For a country as culturally rich as Malawi, it is unfortunate that we have long lacked schools for arts. We have a few out there that are doing a good job but we need more to nurture raw talent and promote informal mentorship,” Chirwa said.
Film Association of Malawi (Fama) Vice President Gilbert Moyo said most filmmakers rely on YouTube tutorials. “Most of us are self‑trained. We watch tutorials and try to implement what we learn. We, therefore, need a school that trains actors, scriptwriters, directors, and designers. If we have such an institution, the quality of films would improve,” Moyo said.
