Lekgaba, Biorn, Ndaba exhibit at National Museum
Chippa Legodimo | Thursday October 23, 2014 15:23
Biorn’s ability to use simple concepts to produce pieces with great artistic impressions is demonstrated in his works on the display.
His depiction of the traditional Tswana mass choir brings the viewer close to reality. The women in the piece are all dressed in traditional blue blankets and headscarves, which form the kind of uniformity that no eye can miss. Add that to a similar background and you have an imposing piece of art that grabs every visitor’s attention. The artist also demonstrates versatility and good technical ability in his piece, showing the beauty that nature offers when the light hits a pool of water. It shows a galaxy of firecrackers booming in the dark sky next to the sea and how similar shapes form in the pool below. Most interesting is how the artist’s dark blue line marks where the horizons meet.
His Setswana Welcome piece showing three elderly Batswana women clapping hands as they welcome a white girl into their homestead.
Biorn displays emotion in this piece.
While the women are clearly excited to have a visitor, the youngster looks overwhelmed.
A demonstration of Biorn’s interest in the day–to-day activities of the society is illustrated in his Mmino Wa Lorato piece in which two traditional dancers look into each other’s eyes passionately in a small set up.
The true Tswana spirit is felt when one looks at Mokwaledi’s Kgotla Meeting painting. A giant figure stands at the centre of an obedient head-bowing crowd in a large kgotla.
This reminds the viewer, especially one so familiar with traditional Tswana customs, of how Batswana in the olden days respected both the kgotla institution and their rulers. Van Hesselt gives the exhibition some positive energy with his abstract art with a predominantly large red piece, which immediately shuts the other images from one’s mind. It gets more interesting once a visitor gets to the section where Lekgaba has displayed his caricatures of both local and international personalities.
From Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, Botswana’s Ian Khama, former president Festus Mogae to the 800-metres champ, Nijel Amos. Each piece solicits a “wow”. Botswana’s intelligence chief, Isaac Kgosi, also could not elude the artist’s attention. In the piece Shoot ‘em Up, Kgosi is seen holding a pistol while standing in front of an armoured vehicle. The combination of Kgosi’s serious look and his gun could be an artistic interpretation of how society has come to view the Directorate of Intelligence and Security - as a trigger-happy security organ.