18 Oct 2016

 The Northern Arts awards are back again now with more categories across the arts genre.

According to the project coordinator, Lyenor Nkosi the event is scheduled to be held in Francistown on December.

The event was launched last year aimed at aimed at celebrating talents of various genres in the arts industry.

Nkosi is adamant that they had already created an indelible event that helps the arts, culture and tourism industry in the northern part of the country to grow.

“We can all agree that the northern part of the country has been the hub of the performing industry in Botswana. This part of the country has played a major role in artists such as Ndingo Jowa, MC Maswe, Timmy and the late Sisco Bee only to mention, but a few that have made it to the top,” he said.

He noted that the idea of the awards was also to bring about the necessary support and recognition of the arts industry talents for various genres.

“We have seen a number of awards being done around the country, but it has been difficult for them to recognise the northern artists due to the fact that we do not have organisations like the National Arts Council of Botswana to help identify other artists country wide. 

This has made some of our artists feel like they are not doing enough in terms of performance or their artistic skills,” he said.

Nkosi said needed motivation and recognition of their work to uplift them in the different areas.By so doing, he said that could uplift the arts and culture industry and in the end attract more tourists. 

“The awards are also meant to show them that they are respected and they have done a lot towards contributing to the performing arts industry. The ultimate goal of this project is to avoid the mentality of them seeing Gaborone as the destination of everything and a place where their talents are only appreciated,” he said.

He said the awards music, dance, poetry, comedy, exhibition  and theatre.

Also, he said the awards would serve as platform for performing artists such as dancers, musicians, drummers and poets to display their talents and creativity during the ceremony. 

“This is a unique and creative way of showcasing artists work and at the same time creating jobs for stage designers, sound and light technicians, choreographers, music composers and DJs,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nkosi has appealed for sponsorship from the business community, the general public in order to fulfill this endeavour. ENDS