The year 2013 in arts review

Chippa Legodimo | Friday December 20, 2013 11:33

 

Though the beginning of the year started on a low key, the passing of folklore guitarist Stampore (Malefo Mokha) left a vivid mark in January 2013.His death followed after a short illness from what family members described as kidney complications.  The country was left in mourning.  Fans who had only become alive to his music felt he was gone too soon. The creative industry was missing a piece of the entertainment puzzle.  By February the void left by his death could be felt despite efforts by his mentor and surviving elder brother Kwataeshwele to fill in Stampore’s shoes.  It became very clear then that the man was in a class of his own.  He was a man of few words whose guitar-licking fingers did all the talking. The same year ends on a sour note.  On December 1, another folklore music legend, Andries Bok, died aged 56. Once again cultural music followers and indeed the whole nation was left sobbing.

While Stampore had managed, through the help of Small House Records, to build himself a two and half house at his home village in Molepolole, Bok died in abject poverty.

He had no roof over his head, had lost his eyesight and only relied on his close family for support. His brother Tsotsi and mother Meiki Bok assumed roles of caregivers.

During Arts & Culture’s visit to his home in March, the guitar maestro was clearly not in good health.  However, he would try his best to put on a brave face lest he appeared like a man in desperation. The dilapidated structure he called his house was near collapse. He had even given up the wait on a promise by some employees of the Ministry of Agriculture to build him a house.

He poured his heart out to Arts & Culture about his regrets and how he wished he could have been educated so he could find a descent job.

Like Stampore, Bok’s legacy lives on.  His Molemi Ithute song will forever be cherished as one of the hallmarks of his artistry.

One of the major cultural events in the country, the annual Dithubaruba Cultural Festival, according to observers, failed to live up to expectations.  Multitudes braved the cold winter to grace the event at Ga Mma-Kgosi (The old Bakwena royal palace).

The festival, meant for cultural sharing and celebration, saw the crowd defiantly break into song, at some stage deliberately ignoring the emcees’s orders and the programme.

Some youths, middle-aged men and sparkle-eyed grannies did not want to be left out of the action because “Setapa gase timanwe”.

While organisers could be praised for proving multiple giant fires around poorly lit spaces contributed to the downfall of the event, according to those who attended.

But despite the untimely deaths of the two great folklore guitarists, and the dim Dithubaruba, there were still some positive moments in the creative industry.  Government’s commitment towards the promotion of the arts was highlighted by events such as the crafts and basket exhibition, which attracted a huge following from both here and abroad.

The Botswana Folklore Association hosted two Swedish folklore musicians and university lecturers at Thapong Visual Arts Centre.  The visiting duo of Gora Premberg and Susanne Linder drilled a group of locals on how to convey their skills to others, especially the younger generation. Premberg sang praises of local performers, following the weeklong workshop.

 “These individual instruments are very powerful but I have realised that they can form a good orchestra, yet the players do not seem to have picked up on this yet,” Premberg said at the time.

Owing to the constant power cuts the workshop was capped on a dark Friday night with the artists and the drillers dancing a storm around a bonfire.

It was inevitable that spectacular events would mark this year’s calendar, particularly with the Three Dikgosi Monument at the Central Business District in Gaborone hosting fashion shows where traditional attires took centre stage.

Not only that but the industriousness of leading wordsmiths paid dividends.  Invitations were sent to four local poets to join Belgium-based Andreattah Chuma in Sweden. 

This marked another important moment in entertainment history, which illustrated how the world has started embracing our culture.

Speaking of culture, news that the annual Kuru dance festival, which offers insight into the Basarwa culture and music, would not take place this year came it turned out to be a damp squid.

For many years, this culturally rich event had attracted a tourist contingent, which exposed Botswana’s culture particularly of Basarwa to international audiences.

Back to the visual arts, Thapong Visual Arts Centre got a shot on the arm in infrastructural development.  The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture pumped over a P1 million into the construction of new studios and other facilities, which would change the image of the centre.

This was augmented by the financing of the construction of a coffee shop and the refurbishment of the old exhibition gallery, which have already been completed.

But despite all these projects, the main focus of the organisation was not lost.  Exhibitions, workshops continue to dominate while resident artists also strive to improve their trade.

But the year would have been complete without the annual Thapong Artist of the Year Awards (TAYA), which were held on December 6.  Ompatile Sebuelo shrugged off competition from his peers to scoop the coveted prize and P30,000 in cash. However, while there was significant growth in the number of entries compared to the previous years, the judges expressed concern about the quality of works in this year’s edition.   They, however, noted that photography had posted good results.