Kasane dominates competitions

10 Jun 2024

Kasane based drama group, Chobe Arts and a comedian, Richard Kayoka outclassed other competitors to clinch position one during the northern regional comedy and drama competitions in Maun on Saturday.

Reatile Theatre from Okavango as well as Arise and Shine drama group from Maun settled for position two and three respectively while on the comedian category, Boniface Phetolo of Seronga got position two followed by Elijah Gaokanyetswe of Maun with position three.

However, the drama champion, Chobe Art group improvised their script well enough to convince the judges and audience who cheered from the onset until the group completed its 20 minutes performance. 

Earlier on, comedian, Kayoka also gave the crowd a rib cracking piece to warm them up before the drama groups took stage.

Speaking during the competition, senior gender officer, Felix Mapeu encouraged artistes to take their work seriously as it had the potential to improve their quality of life. 

Creative art, he said had the potential to create employment and contribute to diversification of the economy through various value chain associated with the sector.

 He also implored artistes to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset, leveraging their creativity to discover new opportunities and turning their art into a sustainable business.

“You should monetise your creations while preserving the essence of your work. By virtue of being in the tourism hub, you should explore avenues to showcase your talents to the tourists visiting your area. 

Many travellers do not know what the district offers and that is the opportunity to tap into and gain exposure,” emphasised Mapeu.

He also motivated artistes to envision their creative work as products ready for the marketing, sale and reach a more extensive audience. 

Mapeu acknowledged that some artistes had been participating in the competitions since their inception and challenged them to introspect to see if they had experienced growth noting that they should be seen transitioning to another level.

Artistes were advised to register their trademark with Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) so that they operate in a professional manner and protect their brands. 

They were also encouraged to seek training opportunities in good governance and financial management as well as to conduct themselves in a professional manner to gain public trust and support.

Outlining the objectives of the competitions, Youth programme officer, Thapelo Disang said the competitions were aimed at nurturing artistes’ talents within the creative arts industry while at the same time showcasing diverse cultures as well as promoting cohesion through performing arts across diverse cultures.

While she appreciated that creative arts had a crucial role in engaging young people, she advised artistes to sustain their works by treating what they were doing as a business.

Their growth and success, she said depend into turning creativity into a viable business. “Our region is rich in talent and the challenge is commercialising the creativity arts. 

I urge you to change the way you have been doing things and get into the business aspect more so that you are earning a lot in monetary prices,” said Disang. 

By commercialising their works, she said would enable them to attain financial stability and independence as well as broadening their artistic spectrum and connecting with a large audience.

Disang also challenged young people to explore the film production and photography category which she said were not explore well enough as shown by the Youth Development Fund (YDF) programme.

She said every financial year her office received less than five applications for projects associated with creative art and encouraged youth to tap into that filming and photography and tell their own beautiful stories of heritage and culture adding that they could also benefit from the tourism industry.

“There is a lot of content which needs to be captured and shared with the world hence I encourage you to exploit the film production and photography. 

I am hoping to see more application in creativity art going forward,” said Dirang. Ends

Source : BOPA

Author : Esther Mmolai

Location : MAUN

Event : Drama competitions

Date : 10 Jun 2024