Thapong to introduce new changes
Spira Tlhankane | Friday January 8, 2016 13:03
The coordinator of Thapong, Reginald Bakwena, said as an arts centre established to push careers in art, they have decided to bring in more workshops to educate and improve the quality of the artworks. “It has been observed that our local artists lack certain skills,” he said.
Bakwena indicated that this year they will work on those weaknesses to produce strong competitors. In March, Bakwena said the centre will have a Members’ Exhibition where all the members of Thapong will be given a chance to freely exhibit their works without competition. He said the same exhibition will be hosted again in August and September.
“We will coincide with the independence as Botswana will be turning 50 years,” he said. In April, Bakwena said Thapong will collaborate with Maitisong in the annual Maitisong Festival.
“We will also have the Young Artist Exhibition to create a platform for them to be seen,” he said. He said Thapong will prioritise an event called Professional Development in order to sharpen artists’ skills. “We will teach them how to become professional artists,” he said. He said the artists will know how to sell themselves in a competitive market. A concerned Bakwena said areas like sculpture are slowly degrading hence the need to bring them back.
Bakwena said they will also take a road show to educate people about public art. He said artists will be taught about the conditions that qualify an artwork to be displayed in a public domain like durability and health hazard.
He said they have had issues of copyright in the past so they also want to host workshops because artists are not aware. “They often cut someone’s artwork to create an exact version of the old one,” he said. “This is a concern for artists so there will be seminars to teach artists about plagiarism,” he said.
Bakwena said they will also introduce Art Market Day to sensitise people and create art appreciation. “We want artists to sell their work and interact with the society because it is crucial,” he said.
He also said one of the things they intend to do is an international workshop and invite accomplished international artists. Bakwena said at the moment they are still looking for funding to back up the idea.
He added the centre has attracted a lot of youth. “The youth come to Thapong because it is beneficial,” he said. Bakwena highlighted that the overall TAYA winner was a young person. “She is a newcomer and she came up with something different from what we usually see,” he said.
We also want people to appreciate creativity and arts in general. Bakwena said the more they educate people about the arts the more the market grows. “We want to see growth in the arts industry; we can’t keep having the same thing over and over again,” he said.
He said artists should bring innovative ideas that can penetrate the international market.