12 Jan 2017

There is a difference between a gift and a talent.

A gift is something that is God given and a talent is something that one works on over time, more of a practice makes perfect type of scenario.

A person’s individual gift deserves to be shared with the rest of the world and one such person who has been blessed with a gift is Phindile Magosi; a gift of art.

Born on July 23, 1999, the young lad who resides in Boatle says he was inspired by his elder brother to get into art from a very young age.

“Growing up my brother was into art and it was something I also wanted to do and I took a liking to it,” says Phindile.

He indicated that from as far as he can remember, art has always been a source of inspiration  for him.

Phindile finished his Form V last year and he says art has been keeping him busy for the time being as he awaits his results.

“But funny enough I want to study medicine and have a huge interest in that. Even though my family encourages me to do what I love best, medicine is also in there,” he says with a chuckle.

On what type of art he does, Phindile says his art is realism mostly concentrated on portraits.

“It is what I like doing and maybe in the future I will try out new things like oil painting on a bigger canvas,” he says, indicating that currently he uses water colour paints.

Art appreciation and business in Botswana has of recent gone on an upward trajectory and one wonders if young Phindile has thought of commercializing his art.

“For now I do it just for the love of it and I have not gone out and put myself out there in that sense, maybe one day but not now,” he says.

He states that his elder sister has been pushing him to explore avenues of making a name for himself with his art and benefitting financially from it, but he feels he is not ready yet.    

For someone of his age and the gift that he possesses, it baffles one’s mind as to why he is not yet in a position to share his amazing gift with the world.

Is it reluctance to break out of his cocoon or he does not yet trust his art?

He indicates that his reluctance also stems from the financial gain attributed to artists in Botswana.

“Most people do not want to pay good prices for good artwork and if one decides to make a living from it, you usually rely on corporations and tourists,” he says.

Quizzed on if he has ever taken part in competitions like the President’s Day competition and the Thapong Artist of The Year Award, Phindile says he has never taken part because of school.

“School for me always came first and I never had the time to squeeze in anything else,” he says. ENDS