Arts Council to run Arts Festival
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Sunday July 24, 2022 06:00
The Arts Council was established to coordinate governance, facilitate cultural exchanges with other countries and stakeholders, advise the government on matters relating to arts and culture, and encourage and facilitate the commercialisation of arts and cultural activities among others in Botswana.
Speaking during the National Arts Festival Awards ceremony in Gaborone during the President’s Day holidays, Rakgare said the ministry and the NACB are working on a proposed transition plan, which will see some of the programmes that had been run by the ministry now being given to the council to take charge of.
“The National Arts Festival is one such programme. We are confident that when their time comes, and with sufficient budget as we envisage, they will do a sterling job of transforming our arts sector,” Rakgare said.
It has been two years since the NACB was established, but it is yet to be operational. However, Rakgare said the NACB would soon operate, with the appointment of the CEO at an advanced stage. He stated that since the NACB Board came into place in 2021, it has been hard to lay the foundations of the council, especially in terms of establishing a secretariat.
Just like NACB Board chairperson, Brian Dithebe recently revealed, Rakgare reiterated that the recruitment process is ongoing, as several positions have since been filled. Meanwhile, Rakgare said there is also an effort to build a national theatre complex or the State Theatre as it is popularly known in Gaborone as part of the NDP 11 approval.
“This will be a centre of excellence for artistic creation, talent development, and skills transfer,” he said.
Rakgare said the project is being pursued through a Public Private Partnership model in recognition of the shortage of resources on the part of government, where they hope for support from both the public and the private sector.
This, he said, will go a long way in assisting the industry in developing and growing. He said it has shown that if supported sufficiently and adequately, the arts have the potential to reset the economy at both rural and urban centres alike and improve the livelihoods of Batswana.