12 Dec 2022

The type and nature of the event determine the type of performance required, the theme of the event and the script to be produced, Assistant Minister of Youth, Gender, Sports and Culture Mr Buti Billy has said.

Answering a question in Parliament, Mr Billy said activities such as the National Arts Events, Awards Ceremony and Independence celebrations offered a mix of both contemporary and traditional performances including traditional poetry, traditional dance, DJ, contemporary dance, contemporary music and fashion show.

However, Mr Billy said a cocktail or gala dinner dictates the suitable performance based only on the theme.

He said some events were of a high profile and required seasoned artistes with a certain technique and style that matched and advertised the brands of organisations.

In some instances, he said the duration of the event may be limited in scope and thus determine the performance and also avoid extra logistical costs that could be incurred, especially if the group was coming from afar.

“Largely the criteria we use to select artistes in national events is based on National Arts Festival winners, the national and international profile of the performing artiste and the unique offering of the performing artiste or group,” said Mr Billy.

However, Mr Billy said the ministry continued to improve the selection criteria by ensuring that where possible the artistes were engaged on a rotational basis.

“This is meant to accord a larger number of artistes opportunities and a platform to display and market their talent and creativity.

This is still not enough as it cannot cover all the artistes,” said Mr Billy.

He said the period from February 2020 to September 2022 was difficult for the creative industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said following government decision to suspend all social and economic activities, a number of initiatives were put in place to relieve artistes and continue to stimulate the sector as well as keep it afloat.

The initiatives included, but were not limited to COVID Relief Grant, President Day Competitions, Stimulating the Creative Sector and Dubai Expo, which were all held in 2020.

Mr Billy said other initiatives included Cross Country Recording Extravaganza in 2021.

Some initiatives conducted this year are National Arts Festival, National Culture Day and other national celebrations.

“In all the programmes mentioned above, 12 410 artistes were engaged and relieved during the COVID-19 pandemic.

About P22 516 053 was paid to performing artistes while P2 809 053 was paid to performing artistes in national events,” he said.

In relation to participation and payments of artistes in at Kanye North, Mr Billy said P65 000 was disbursed to pay artistes who were engaged to entertain at various activities from the constituency.

Mr Billy said Gaborone city had the highest number of artistes who had benefited.

“The high number of artistes in Gaborone is attributed to the fact that most performing artistes relocated to the city from all parts of the country for business opportunities,” he said.

He added that his ministry continued to publicise the arts and culture programmes to all districts, towns and villages in order to give equal opportunities to all artistes and where possible capacity-building initiatives were undertaken to encourage artistes to participate in the set programmes.

Furthermore, Mr Billy said there were other programmes such as the Constituency Arts Competitions, which were held at grassroots level, comprising ward level and constituency level competitions.

He said the Presidential Directive CAB 1(B) 2015 towards the procurement of arts and culture products and performance services allocates funding to different ministries and government departments to engage performance services to artistes across the country.

“The ministry also collaborates with the Department of Broadcasting Services, virtual and online platforms, radio and other media to record and air the works and talent of artistes to better market and expose them to available opportunities.

Member of Parliament for Kanye North, Mr Thapelo Letsholo had asked the minister to appraise Parliament on the criteria used to select performing artistes for national events and further share the list of artistes engaged for each of the national events since the emergence of COVID-19.

Additionally, Mr Letsholo has asked the minister to disclose the amount paid to each artist and share a list of artists from Kanye, Moshana, Ranaka, Lekgolobotlo, Ntlhantlhe, Mogotlhwane and Kgomokasitwa who were engaged for the national event and the amount they were each paid. ENDS