30 May 2016

Kasane held its first ever BOT50 arts festival as part of the district’s build up to this year’s 50th anniversary of Botswana’s independence.

Spear-headed by local performing arts group, Chobe Arts Association in collaboration with Seboba Recreational Park, the festival was a medley of folklore, traditional and contemporary music with a fusion of impressive theatre and scout performances.

The line-up consisted of local Chobe acts such as My Star’s Elnny Kumar, Twayuva traditional dance group, Tse Tilodi traditional group, Mambo and Nature voices and the organisers Chobe Arts Association.
While for Elnny, the platform was an opportunity to make a comeback after a year of away from stage, for Chobe Arts Association, it was a platform to get their message about the general public’s perception of performing art as well as highlight challenges faced by artists locally.

Through their play, If I was Jesus, they highlighted the opportunity for art to diversify economy and eradicate poverty.
The play focused on one performing group’s desire to build a P500 000 theatre hall, which coincidentally Chobe Arts does not have.

It also sought to communicate that art can be a viable and sustainable business and must be treated as such by both artists and general public.
One of the organisers, Mr Rancheke Rancheke said that they organised the festival as a way of showcasing local talent ahead of the national independence anniversary celebrations.

He also said one of the objectives was to educate the public about artistic value and map a way forward on fruitful relations between them and their stakeholders being government departments, the corporate world and the general public.
A representative from the District Commissioner’s office Ms Bontle Mmokele reminded revellers of the essence of this country’s independence and implored them to keep this in mind as they celebrated.

She noted that this year’s BOT50 celebrations sought to enhance patriotism, national identity and national pride.
“I have observed that some Batswana feel patriotic only when they are outside Botswana, when they are back home they forget about patriotism,” she noted. Ends