Botswana: The River of Art

Sunset (2014) by Amantle Ntima

Botswana is known for its authentic handmade crafts, especially the basketwork from the north and west of the country. They are the significant and authentic signature of the people of our country and reflect their character and identity. With us in Botswana, as everywhere else throughout the world, crafts are an integral part of our culture. Much of the fine art practice is not that common as it is practiced more by the few who studied art at schools. This began in the late 80’s and is in a way becoming more common to our youth and the older people as a source of income.

Untitled (2014) by Brian Garcin

We have see the Thapong Visual Arts Centre, the Kuru Art Project and regional museums in our country becoming centres for excellence of our visual art practices. This is for both fine art and crafts. The contribution of the government in directing both government departments and the civil service to procure works of art has also contributed to the growth of what we see now being done in the country. It was a positive move but it has also had negative effects. There is a lot of poor quality work being sold which is an embarrassment for the sector. There is not much quality control or even pricing, even though the Department of Arts and Culture is doing its best to capacitate the artists.

Silhouette of an African Lady (2014) by John Tjivert

The Thapong artists’ workshops added value to the visual arts in this country. Artists from all over the world came together for two weeks with the aim of sharing ideas and exchanging views on their art practice. Through it we met artists like Neo Matome, Phillip Segola, Stephen Mogotsi, Mokwaledi Gontshwanetse and Velius Ndaba, coming up as pioneers of the sector that made it through this exchange. Later other Botswana artists like Monica Selelo, Andrew Matseba, Doreen Gomang and Thamae Setshogo joined. They all made their art practices known throughout the country and abroad.

Dreams (2014) by Kanni Balasubramanian

Most of our young artists are now striving to become masters in what they do. They are also making their earlier unrecognized contributions to the economic prosperity of their government known through corporate services, environmental refurbishments through art commissions, art exhibitions, art auctions, print media services, gallery and museum activities. There are also art agencies or integrated marketing communication agencies, and other economy generated entrepreneurial art services. There are associations formed like the Botswana Visual Artist Association, which in a way help the artists to have a home and facilitate their thoughts in regard to their practice - speaking with one voice.