Fine Art is a blessing to me – Ramolapong
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Sunday June 25, 2023 06:00
In an interview with Arts & Culture, Ramolapong said to him art was a blessing. He explained that he has been doing fine art since 2001 at primary school. He was then formally introduced to it as a subject at junior secondary school. He continued with it at senior secondary school where he said he portrayed outstanding talent. He said his friend, Ditshupo Mogapi, who is also an artist mentored him since his senior secondary school years. However, they parted ways along the way when he was busy with other life hustles but later re-united when he decided to follow his passion and pursue art professionally.
The young man worked at car washes and fuel stations but his love for fine art pushed him back to his 'calling'. His journey as a professional artist started in 2014. “As a member of Thapong Visual Arts Centre, I became open to other careers such as sign board designing and installation, painting, figure drawing, photography and sculpture. Being open to different forms allowed me to mix different forms to create new styles and unique works of art. I have been to quite a few galleries and exhibitions around Botswana including the National Art Gallery. My other projects include art murals endorsed by the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture. I also have art murals for private companies,” he said. He is among five young artists whose eye-catching designs are displayed at Gaborone Village walls as well as Turnstar parking lot at the Main Mall. He said he was also engaged in creating marketing artworks for PosoMoney programme. He was also commissioned by the Botswana Life Insurance to renovate and design cartoons for children’s wards at the Princess Marina Hospital and he has many more achievements under his belt including various awards.
“My art is a spiritual journey. I am impressed with my achievements so far even though it was not easy as I passed through hard challenges. Art was my therapy. It helped me overcome many challenges I faced at home or any other places. Over the years I grew tremendously. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic threatened our growth, I found a way to utilise it to my advantage and grew as an artist,” he explained. He added that he is working on networking and marketing his artistic work. He was involved in different initiatives that were meant to revive local artists. Ramolapong added that he wishes to see a lot of changes more so that the National Arts Council has been launched in the country.
He explained that most of the local artists were still shocked at how the council will work. He, however, encouraged them to try hard to see how it was going to help them and seek help where necessary. He also urged them to collaborate with other international artists to grow a network that would help groom upcoming artists.