Stairway to Fame 

Great start-up chances for Zanzibar artists

In 11 years, the Emerson Foundation has helped many young artists to jumpstart a career. Join them and become an art mentor yourself!

Azam TV pays fairly when we work for them”, reports actress Biubwa. Painter Hamsa describes how he has been teaching visual art in an atelier at the Old Fort for 25 years. Businessman and board member Amour Hamil Bakari talks about his work with the copyright society of Zanzibar (Cosoza). “Our films on YouTube channels are doing well”, contributes producer Mwenenu to the lifely discussion.

Snapshots of artist life in Zanzibar. We are listening to about ten artists and art organisers at the authentic Emerson Hurumzi Hotel in Stone Town. The majority are filmmakers and actors. All of them – women and men in their twenties and thirties – have one thing in common: they have been, at one stage or another, sponsored by the Emerson’s Zanzibar Foundation.

Zanzibar melange

The joyful noise of children playing in the streets of Stone Town is heard through the shutters of the hotel. Neighbourhood culture, Swahili heritage and the aspirations of Zanzibar’s contemporary artists come together here.

The foundation was started in 2024 when culture pioneer Emerson Skeens died at the age of 65 in Zanzibar. Through the foundation, the legacy of the charismatic New Yorker lives on. Babu, as he was called, opened the first boutique hotels in Stone Town in 1990, brought Johnny Depp over and ignited major cultural events like the film festival ZIFF and the music festival Sauti za Busara (see story above).

“Emerson’s Zanzibar Foundation has kept up the cultural engagement in his name, handing out yearly awards for music, film and visual art”, explains Dismas Sekibaha, coordinator of the institution. Everybody interested in art can become a member. The new  Emerson’s Zanzibar Foundation Art Gallery is also part of the outreach.

The support has helped many struggling artists. Filmmaker Muddy Sule, for example, won the 2024 film award for “Uhuruwangu”, his  short film about Aids. That catapulted him into a TV show. For him, fame started indeed on a stairway at Emerson’s where his talents were first honoured.         A.Tapper

BOX: Become a cultural influencer!

Anybody interested in supporting arts and culture in Zanzibar can, for a small fee, join the Emerson’s Zanzibar Foundation, a membership organisation. Benefits include vernissage invitations and discounts. But most importantly: let your voice count among art insiders here.

Information: foundation@emersonzanzibar.com