Moyo, who is an artistic genius, began his journey in the arts space in 2004 when he was still in primary school. He recalls vividly being captivated by an art piece, which he got lost starring at for hours and in that moment he knew he was called to be a creative maverick.
“I have always had curious and creative hands, my earliest memory of falling in love with art was when I saw a drawing made by two boys in my class, I studied the complexity of their creation and I knew that I too was meant for the art space,” he said. Halethaba is a company that specialises in making souvenir art for international and domestic tourists. What makes Halethaba special is its prime positioning in the tourism hub of Maun attracting mass attention from mostly international travellers who come to explore the culture of Botswana.
“I struggled to find a perfect spot for operating an art business in Botswana, first I tried Gaborone and it was not conducive, then I also tried other places like Francistown but operating an art store in places that dot grasp the speciality of art can prove to be a challenge that’s why we operate in Maun,” Moyo said. Currently Halethaba makes an array of art products ranging from cultural sculptures, painted and tinted apparel, drawings and paintings and hand crafted cultural ornaments.
Halethaba also boasts of its journey to success that started off with humble beginnings, Moyo states that when he moved to Maun he first started with a roadside stall and now he has expanded to operating two shops. “One of our shops is in old mall centre lodge and we are there to narrate a story, to provide education on Botswana culture and to promote culture trade between communities,” he added.
Speaking on challenges encountered while running the business, Moyo decried the tendency by many Batswana to undermine the value of art, starting that this tendency further extends to government. “The treatment we get when we are contracted even by government when asked to display our art shows how little government thinks of art, the price attached to our services is always belittling” he bemoaned. Moyo is a creator who wants to create jobs, promote the narrative of Botswana’s culture through art mediums and this he believes will change how Batswana think of art.
