15 Apr 2018

Thapong Visual Arts Centre was on Friday  a hive of activity as the creative arts industry convened for the Thapong members’ exhibition in collaboration with Maitisong festival where the artworks displayed were impressive.

It has always been said Botswana has a lot of talent when it comes to the creative arts industry and the Thapong members’ exhibition was indeed the place to be where  everything displayed was of top notch design.

Speaking at the official opening of the exhibition on April 13, coordinator of Thapong Visual Arts Centre, Reginald Bakwena said the exhibition would be from April 13-30.

He said art fanatics should visit Thapong Visual Art Centre to witness and appreciate quality art works displayed by members of the centre.

“The exhibition is meant for artists to share and exchange ideas and also provide a platform for networking and it is also meant to expose members’ works to the public for their support in terms of purchasing these products,” said Bakwena.

Artists displayed their pieces of work ranging from drawings, paintings and sculpture, among others.

He noted that such exhibitions also prepared artists for the Thapong Artist of the Year Award (TAYA).

Bakwena said there would be no judging of artists’ work during the exhibition.

He further advised artists to take their work seriously as customers preferred quality products.

He also advised artists to be careful when pricing their work, noting that it was not good to over price substandard products.

The exhibition gives artists an opportunity to polish their skills, techniques as well as concept ahead of the highly competitive TAYA that draws participation from artists who are members of the centre in different visual art disciplines.

A dozen pieces form part of this exhibition, all telling their own stories.

Bakwena said it was their expectation that the members would use the exhibition as a platform to go on and take a step further towards their true art.

He further added that they had hoped their members would have exhibited in order to get recommendations from the judges, which will help inculcate originality in their work.  

Bakwena said the message for the exhibition was still professionalism, presentation and communication coming from someone’s artwork.

“We wanted artworks that a customer would not mind hanging and displaying in their home, business or wherever,” he said.

Mr Bakwena indicated that some of the artworks that did not make it to the wall did not have a protective glass and a frame.

“Some people seem not to listen to clear instructions and we could not accept that kind of work because it would have meant we would be held liable if the artworks happened to get damaged,” he said.

He said he was worried by the fact that some artists still failed in concept development.

“How people construct ideas and how they follow up on that. Craftsmanship is also one aspect that is still lacking.

The composition of some of the artworks is confusing and as judges and people who view art, we are sometimes confused as what to look for and what the artist was trying to communicate,” he said.

 He said it was  worrying that artists seem to be repeating the same mistakes. ENDS