29 Jan 2015

Cultural enthusiasts are set to enjoy a day of cultural schooling on January 30 as experts in different spheres of culture will dwell into cultural topics courtesy of the renowned Son of The Soil cultural event.

The main event is slated for January 31 while the workshop would be on Friday. Speaking in an interview, one of the the organisers, Pontsho Pusoetsile said they decided to host a workshop on Friday for people who organise cultural celebration events in Botswana and others that are interested in culture.

“What has been evident in Botswana for the past few years is that cultural celebrations in Botswana are very popular, they grow only for them to die a natural death,” he said. He said the main objective of the workshop would be to tutor organisers on their shows' sustainability.

“We also want to have an interaction point as people who are interested in culture so that we can share ideas and have a common goal of success,” said Pusoetsile, adding that organisers of such events needed to collaborate and share ideas to grow culture locally and eventually abroad.

He further said panelists at the workshop would include, among others, Professor Thapelo Otlogetswe who will be talking about languages and how they could be used in such cultural events. “Another panelist will be MacJohn Mosenene who will talk about Botswana traditional cuisine and how best to commercialise that so as to penetrate the outside market,” he said.

He indicated that the discussion on Botswana traditional cuisine will teach cultural enthusiasts how best to package food so that it could meet international standard markets. “Imagine having a restaurant that sells Botswana food in the United Kingdom and that would have to be packaged in a way that it entices people living there,” he said.

Pusoetsile further said other panelists will be Batho Molema and Daniel Mogamo who will both touch on traditional song and dance. “Kopano Sechele will speak on traditional storytelling and its importance on character building of a Motswana child and we will also have another panelist who will talk on traditional medicine and whether it works or does not work,” he said.

He further said Batlokwa Semele will discuss the traditional protocol when it comes to Batswana social gatherings such as weddings, funerals and lobola negotiations and others. “We also encourage students and anyone who is interested in culture to also attend this workshop that will be held at the National Museum from 8am-4pm,” he said.



The main event of Son of The Soil will be held on Saturday at Boetelo Sun Valley Resort, Notwane. ENDS