11 Jan 2016

Coordinator of Thapong Visual Arts Centre, Reginald Bakwena says a lot has to be done to develop visual arts in Botswana and people should look forward to an exciting year this time around.

Speaking in an interview on his hopes and aspirations for the visual art industry in 2016, he said facilities outside Gaborone should be further developed and that in turn will encourage more artists to take up visual art.

“We should not only build infrastructure in Gaborone, but rather look at other places like Francistown, Maun, Kasane, Selebi Phikwe, Lobatse and Ghanzi among others and this will generate interest with artists that are not based in Gaborone,” he said, adding that it has always been his dream to see art grow outside Gaborone.

He said it was his wish to see more artists come into the industry in 2016 and beyond.

“More numbers would mean that the industry will have a chance of sustaining itself and contributing to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and for individuals to also sustain themselves and their families,” said Bakwena.

“One thing we have realised with last year’s Thapong Artist of the Year Award (TAYA) is that most artists still lack some skills and we are looking to further develop artists by holding more exhibitions and workshops,” he continued.

Bakwena indicated that one of the skills that artists still lack is that of making their art pieces more desirable to consumers.

“The art of presentation is still lacking. People have the natural talent of doing art, but the presentation is what is lacking in most,” he said.

He further indicated that there is a shortage of education and this year they will be looking to rectify that by holding informative workshops for their member artists.

“We will also host member exhibitions as well as individual exhibitions so as for artists to get feedback on their work and where they can improve. Exhibitions are all about visibility and making sure the artists get constructive feedback on what they could have done better and to also sell a few pieces,” he said.

Speaking on how the visual art industry grew last year, Bakwena said he was happy with the new faces he had seen.

“The integration between old faces and new faces has been amazing and we need more of this to happen quite often,” he said.

He indicated that in partnership with Botswana Society for The Arts, they will continue hosting presentation like the one they hosted last year on photography and it was a great success.

“Photographers who took part in the 2014 TAYA competition were impressed with feedback and pointers they got from Ulf Nermark who is the vice chairperson of Botswana Society for The Arts,” he said. Ends