02 Dec 2014

It is all systems go for Thapong Artist of the Year Award ceremony slated for December 4 at Thapong Visual Art Centre with 189 artworks submitted for the competition. 

Speaking in an interview, coordinator of Thapong centre, Reginald Bakwena said they had experienced a high number of youth submitting their art pieces for the competition.

“I am very impressed with the kind of work that has been submitted,” he said, adding that 95 artists had submitted their work. He indicated that out of the 95, 76 were men and 19 women.

Bakwena said about 90 per cent of the total number of artists that submitted are young people. “I would also like to commend the women who have submitted their artworks because in the past, we hardly ever had more than 10 women participating,” he said.

Bakwena said he was happy with the participation of young people as this showed growth within the art sector.  He said this year artists would be participating in eight categories unlike the past years when the categories were only four.

“The sponsors for this year’s awards have also been secured namely Diamond Trading Company Botswana, Mascom, Limkokwing University of Technology, Collegium Publishers, Plascon and the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture,” he said.

He further said the president of Botswana Confederation of Commerce Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM) Leta Mosienyane would be the guest speaker. He said the reason they invited Mosienyane was that as Thapong Art Visual Centre, they wanted to collaborate with BOCCIM on the art sector in Botswana and see how best to benefit from them.

“We want to grow the art sector and BOCCIM will go a long way in playing pivotal role in this journey,” said Bakwena.  The biggest award of the evening will be the Thapong Artist of The Year Award which fetches a whooping P35 000.

Bakwena wished all the participants luck and encouraged them not to falter if they do not win. “At the end of the day art is the winner and people should learn from this experience and continue to grow as artists,” he said. ENDS