28 Jan 2018

Nothing in life is impossible if one puts their mind into it. People should learn to break the limits, follow their dreams in order to change their lives for the better.

These are the words echoed by youthful Kemodisa Moilwa  aged 35 of Sehithwa who makes a living through art. He owns a company called Whole Arted Crafts and it specialises in painting and drawing, landscaping, sculpturing, printing and car branding.

In an interview, he explained that his passion for art started when he was at primary school noting that while other children played after school, he would be busy doing some art works during his spare time.

“To me art is a God- given talent and it is more like a calling as no body in the family taught me. I was born an artist and I am happy that I followed my dream to the letter,” he added.

He said although academically, he was doing exceptionally well , art became his priority because he was more talented. He pursued his dream until he completed his form five in Maun Senior Secondary School in 2001.

Moilwa believes that education in the arts is an integral part of the development of each human being. Arts education refers to education in the disciplines of music, dance, theatre, and visual arts. After completion of his secondary education, he did not waste time but applied for a course in painting and decoration at Maun Technical College to sharpen his skills.

“Unfortunately, I did not finish the course because I felt that it was not resourceful as it specialised more in general house painting. So I decided to continue using my God- given talent to make more products and sell,” he added.

In 2003, he secured a job at Craft Centre because of his sterling performance and he worked as a decorator for a year. That is when he started saving some money to start his own business.

He also registered with Thapong Visual Arts Centre in Gaborone to showcase his works and penetrate the market. Thapong provides a venue for the visual arts in Botswana and it seeks to promote unity and excellence within the visual arts in Botswana in all communities, through sharing skills, enabling personal growth and development and promoting arts locally and internationally through networking.

However, Moilwa realized that indeed, he had more potential and then, he applied for Youth Development Fund (YDF) and was successful. He was funded to the tune of P100 000 in January 2016 and currently the business is running successfully.

Although he revealed that operating space remained a major challenge for his business due to high rentals but that did not dampen his spirit. Currently, he has built a mini workshop at his place in Thito ward where he operates.

He explained that he does advertising through word of mouth and social media such as Face book. Mr Moilwa said since his business is still new, he finds it difficult to penetrate the market but he is optimistic that once it is well known, the market will not be a problem more so that Ngamiland is a tourism destination.
“Art is a viable business if marketing is well done. Marketing is not something that you do once-off when you launch a business. Business conditions change continually so your market research should be continuous as well,” he added.

In an effort to intensify advertising, he intends to hold some youth exhibitions in schools and strategic places around Maun. The first exhibition is scheduled for Makalamabedi Junior Secondary School beginning of February and the objective is to sensitise students to appreciate the importance of art and how it could turn lives around when things seem to be falling apart.

Mr Moilwa appealed to the public at large to support artists by buying their products. He also called on parents to fully support their children by encouraging them to pursue their dreams.

He said they should know what their children’s ambitions at an early age are and give them courage.

To young people, he said they should discover themselves and see that it is important to have positive thinking in order to reach greater heights. He urged them to take advantage of government interventions put in place to fight unemployment. Ends