BY WINSTONE ANTONIO YOUTH, Sport, Arts and Recreation minister Kirsty Coventry has said COVID-19 and the associated national lockdowns had negatively impacted the cultural and creative sector’s growth. She made the remarks in her address at the country’s 40 living legends’ awards ceremony organised by the National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) on Saturday. Powered by Old Mutual Zimbabwe, the awards ceremony, held under the theme Our Legacy, Our Pride, were a celebration of the country’s 40th independence anniversary as well as 35 years of the existence of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ). “The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe could not shelve the awards as the national lockdown presented an opportunity to close Zimbabwe’s 40th anniversary of independence with the symbolic awarding of 40 living legends of the cultural and creative sector. Incidentally, the NACZ is also celebrating 35 years of existence,” she said. “The legends to be honoured are people who have had an indelible impact on their different disciplines. These living legends include pioneers, innovators and consistent contributors in fields such as the manufacture of the mbira musical instrument, film, theatre, music, dance, visual arts, literary arts and the spoken word.” Coventry said the honoured legends had also ventured into mentoring and skills development. “This has had a ripple effect as is seen in the transfer of their skills and technical knowledge to upcoming and established artists who, not only inherit the craft and genius of the living legends, but are also becoming potential vectors of transmitting their experiences to future generations without end,” she said. The legends included multi-talented novelist, playwright and poet Aaron Chiundura Moyo, veteran sculptor Adam Madebe, poet, musician and actor Albert Nyathi, sungura ace Alick Macheso, author Barbara Makhalisa-Nkala, traditional dancer and drummer Barnabas Chadamoyo, actor and film director Ben Mahaka, producer, drummer and sound engineer Bothwell Nyamhondera, prolific poet, singer and author Chirikure Chirikure and playwright, actor and theatre director Cont Mhlanga. Also honoured were theatre producer and director Daves Guzha, second generation stone sculptors Dominic Benhura, dancer Ellen Mlangeni, playwright and actor Felix Moyo, mbira musician and manufacturer Fradreck Mujuru, visual artist Helen Leiros, traditional dance practitioner Irene Chigamba, actor and filmmaker Jasen Mphepo, actress Jesesi Mungoshi as well as award-winning filmmaker and director Joe Njagu. The others are renowned ethnomusicologist Joyce Jenje-Makwenda, singer Lovemore “Majaivana” Tshuma, theatre and dancer Matesu Dube, literary arts Musaemura Zimunya, film producer Nakai Matema, sungura musician Nicholas Zakaria, writer, director and choreographer Nkululeko Innocent Dube, writer and historian Pathisa Nyathi, novelist, playwright, poet and journalist Paul Chidyausiku and the late visual artist Rashid Jogee. Novelist Shimmer Chinodya, queen of mbira and songbird Stella Chiweshe, film maker-cum-acto