While one Dr. Stella Nyanzi was stripping on live television over “rotten” state of affairs at MISR, one artist too was scribbling his heart felt pain about the state of affairs at National Theatre.
Film maker of the “Silent depression” fame, Battle MC aka Nes G claims National Theatre has turned into a centre for wedding meetings. He raises a number of issues from poor sanitary facilities, dilapidated structures to lack of publicity for artists. Here is his long post made on Facebook, Uganda’s leading platform for venting emotions.
“With so much filth going on at the National Theater, as an artist whose career has been built around that building I cry out to the public to join us as we push for change and here is why…
Last year in the arts forum organized by Mr Dan Ssetaba in which we pushed for the incoming board to meet the Artist, one of the board members in his 60’s I suppose had this to say to us… “as a plan to save the artists, we have decided to startup an artist SACCO in which we shall invest in farming and Artist do the arts as a side thing since there is no money in the arts.”
As an artist who deliberately dropped out of university doing a great course to pursue his career and I make a living out of art, I felt that insulting but anyway let’s move on…. National Theater has become “National Wedding Meeting Center” . They have prioritized wedding meeting over artists interests in that they will shamelessly make you get off your sit because it has to be taken for a wedding meeting.
My question is,where in the constitution of UNCC does it state that wedding meeting are the main reason that building stands? The men’s washrooms is the place you go to incase you want to experiment on catching disease. The two toilets in there broke down last year but one of them had been broken for over a year prior. The place often floods with water and you can barely find a place to step. The sinks hmmmm save for another day. How do people come for our events with no place of convenience?
The screens around the corridors were said to be ours for showcasing our works such as short films, trailers etc but I’m sure mastered each frame of that advert that they have put on replay since Jan.
Recently we had the Kampala Short Film Festival that filled the place to capacity,t here is the monthly African Movie Night happening, there are film premieres coming in a week, none of that gets a chance to run as they run an advert for an advertising agency which doesn’t help me in a way.
The management despite our cries has stuck to P.O.BOX PR. They still believe the notice board is the most effective way of passing on info to someone out there. The UNCC page might have last been update 5 years ago and I’m sure it wasn’t about the arts.
National Theater takes 40% if you hold an event in the auditorium yet they don’t give you any form of publicity aside from the lights, sound (which are in bad state) and projector (which can’t focus and is a 4×3). We do our pushing on social media and they take credit for the numbers.
The structures are all falling apart. The restaurant and other huts at theater are the last place you want to take refuge when it rains. They leak like it’s open bar at a party.
Also the management is full of non artists which explains the above. There are no incentives for artists and each year going by artists are deserting the place.
National Theater has become the center of Uganda wedding meetings association and a place we all go to say our final good bye to fallen artists. It’s a funeral home. Its no surprise that they are billions in debt while sitting on a gold mine. If we do nothing, what happened to Shimoni, UCB, Fresh Diary and almost happened to the museum may soon befall us.
National Theater is the Uganda National Cultural Center and culture cuts across we the artists and you the Ugandan,if this continues it may collapse and be given to a private investor…… Join the fight for change in the arts.”
Staff Writer