06 May 2013

As the deadline for this year’s President’s Day competitions draws nearer, creativity seems to be the biggest challenge facing artists, if the recent elimination exercise for the contemporary music category hosted by the Ghanzi region is used as a yardstick.

The craft displayed was not impressive, to say the least, particularly new talent which is presumed to be the future of the arts in the country. Instead of seeing fresh and raw talent, it was a repetition and imitation of perhaps already established artists.

“We want new talent and unleash it; we don’t want material that is already out there,” charged Nametsegang Garogwe who was a judge at the elimination stage of the President’s Day competitions.

Garogwe added: “This year there is no creativity in the artists.”

President’s Day competitions have been running for five years now, but there is not much improvement in the artists’ performance.

Some display unrehearsed material, while others simply copy already established artists.

For the past five years artists have been performing the same kind of dance, music and singing with the domination of kwasa and/or rumba, among the young artists.

Meanwhile, Botswana Music Union (BOMU) President, Alfred Mosimanegape suggested that it is time the competitions were run by a private entity like BOMU.

Mosimanegape believes that BOMU can improve the competitions and even give them a facelift.

“Every initiative should have a long-term vision, which will eventually benefit everyone, and not just the few same individuals,” stated Mosimanegape.

According to the musician, it is a good program for the artists, unfortunately it benefits the same artists every year, he observed.

He advised that it should be about new talent, rather than established artists taking advantage of the money in it.

“Otherwise the already existing artists will always win while the newcomers will be left empty handed; hence they will not be able to advance their careers as should be,” he said.

Mosimanegape said because of their benchmarking experience in neighboring countries, if given the chance to run the competitions they can do a better job in developing them for the benefit of all concerned. ENDS