30 Aug 2015

The acting Paramount Chief of Batawana Kgosi Kealetile Moremi has said Ngamiland district is one of the regions rich in art. She made the remarks at the Okavango Artists Association 4th Annual members’ exhibition at Nhabe Museum in Maun .

Kgosi Kealetile, who gave the keynote address, described art as having a vision, being creative, having the skills and knowledge. She described one of the artistic items, baskets, which are mostly weaved in Ngamiland, as one that most people can use for various purposes. “These baskets can be used to serve snacks for people and also can be used to decorate offices,” she said.

The chairperson of Okavango Artists Association, Ompatile Sebuelo emphasised that another main objective of the exhibition was to provide platform for artists to network, interact and also learn from each other and this will raise creativity and competitiveness level high. Artists were encouraged to price their artwork at a reasonable price as it will help them not to chase away customers.

Another encouragement to the artists was that they should conduct market research about their products as this will make them to produce good quality and durable artwork.
Art lovers in attendance were encouraged to buy Botswana products in order to promote the local market.

The exhibition will continue until October 19 for people to come, see and buy artworks done by Ngamiland artists. Artworks include wood work, oil on canvas art, hand painted ceramics, photography and others. The main objective of the exhibition is to showcase talents, skills and knowledge of Ngamiland artists. ENDS