Stephen Chifunyise
By Tapfuma Machakaire 27/11/2022
Before he breathed his last on the morning of August 5, 2019 at his Vianona home in Harare, legendary playwright and cultural expert, Stephen Chifunyise, had been doing the unexpected, writing about his impending death. In 2013 he penned Cancer in my Blood which spoke of the disease that had been detected in him and was to end his life three years later. The same year, as he reflected on the afterlife, he wrote-Taking Home a Spirit.
In 2014 Chifunyise wrote – Of Course You Need Help Fast- in which he spoke of the urgent medical help he needed. The same year he penned-Please Mother Don’t Cry for Me, which was about how he imagined his family mourning his death.
In all Chifunyise produced over 70 plays covering a wide range of issues.The plays were performed on stage, radio and television in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Sweden, South Africa, Malawi, India and the United Kingdom. The plays were overtly political and often intended to initiate debate. Heal the Wounds, which he wrote in the aftermath of Zimbabwe’s political violence in 2008, was meant to stimulate discussion on the ideology that was being propounded on achieving national healing and reconciliation.
In 1989 Chifunyise together with Robert McLaren, and Farai Gezi founded the Children Performance Arts Workshop (CHIPAWO), a talent nurturing movement which has produced internationally acclaimed artists of the likes of Danai Gurira who is featuring in the just released second edition of the sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Other artists who went through CHIPAWO include the late queen of song, Chiwoniso Maraire, David Chifunyise, Gugu McLaren Ishewekunze, Rute Mbangwa and Charmaine Picardo.
CHIPAWO gave birth to similar organisations in neighbouring countries that include South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Botswana where the organisations are being run by young people.
Alongside the late Kenyan, Ngugi wa Miiri, Chifunyise was also instrumental in the formation of the Zimbabwe Association of Community Theatre (ZACT), an organisation which played a pivotal role in shaping the growth and development of theatre in Zimbabwe.
Stephen Joel Chifunyise popularly known as Uncle Steve, was born on 21 September 1948 in Nhema, Shurugwi, in the Midlands province of Zimbabwe. For his primary education, he went to St Linus Matoranjera in Chitomborwizi, Chinhoyi, where he did sub A up to standard I. In 1960 he moved to Mumbwa, Zambia where he attended Shamweti Primary School until standard II before transferring to Chisengalumbwe. He did his high school education at St Mark’s Secondary School in Zambia.
He studied for a BA degree in education at the University of Zambia where he kick-started his career in theatre. This saw him being appointed chairman of Zambia National Theatre Arts Association ZANTAA. He later proceeded to the University of California, Los Angeles for a Masters in Theatre Arts which he completed in 1977.
Chifunyise took up a post as drama lecturer at the University of Zambia before being appointed Director of Zambian Cultural Services in 1979.
Chifunyise returned to Zimbabwe in 1980 where he began working as Program Producer at the Audio Visual Services in the Ministry of Education and Culture. In 1983 he returned to academia and took up a lectureship in the drama department at the University of Zimbabwe. He re-joined government as Chief Cultural Officer and was later promoted to Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Culture.
From the 1980s Chifunyise started consulting for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in the area of arts and culture.
As a certified UNESCO facilitator in the area of intangible cultural heritage, he played a central role in ratifying and implementing the 2003 UNESCO Convention for Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage. He was also a member of the UNESCO team of experts on cultural governance, which implemented the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Cultural Diversity.
Chifunyise’s commitment to amending cultural policies in Zimbabwe arose from the lack of institutional recognition of the arts in post-independence Zimbabwe. In his paper Trends in Zimbabwean Theatre Since 1980, he examines the decline of Zimbabwe’s rich culture of storytelling, music and dance after independence.
He argued that the devaluation of the arts by government and mainstream media occurred in spite of the fact that performance arts played an essential role in the liberation movement.
Chifunyise played a key role in organising and running the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Arts and Culture Festivals from 1994 to 2000. He was chairperson of the Southern African Film Festival from 1990 to 1996. He also facilitated the review and classification of the culture sector and the formulation of the National Action Plan for the Culture Sector in Botswana from 2004 to 2008. He became a member of the board of trustees of the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) in 2011 and remained a member to his death.
On Thursday 8 August 2019, Chifunyise’s producers, Theatre in the Park, organized a celebratory send-off service where scores of artists gathered to honor him in speeches and performances.
His long-time friend Robert Mshengu Kavanagh (aka McLaren) described him as a cultural giant, possibly more honored outside his country than within. “Internationally and in Africa, Zambia, in particular, he looms large” said Kavanagh.
A statement from the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe read, “We have lost a legend, father figure, coach and mentor who was an exceptional arts and culture policy expert whose knack of understanding UNESCO Conventions, culture and heritage frameworks and policies was unmatched.”
The legendary Stephen Chifunyise dedicated his life to his craft, his culture and his African people.
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