He revealed this to local artists at the Thapong Visual Centre during the ‘Art Talk’. The centre held the Art Talk as a way to curate local artists to be better than they were yesterday by bringing in renowned artist, Gadzekpo.
Gadzekpo, who was impressed by the immense talent artists have in Botswana, felt that though they are talented, their artworks do not tell stories of the ancestors.
He advised that is the gap he firmly believes is where artists should draw inspiration. “We have ancestors. They have left us footprints and culture so we have to uphold, reinterpret the culture in the present and contemporary times so that we also leave the footprints for the next generation and Botswana does really have great culture and has lot of talented artists,” Gadzekpo said.
Gadzekpo further stated that the most imperative thing behind drawing inspiration from the forefathers is to never go off the ranks and forget the roots. “This is important so that we do not forget who we are and we can use the new technology to our advantage so that the things we produce can become permanent just like the Matsieng footprint,” he said with a brim smile.
He highlighted that artists should learn to be critical and not only to themselves but also the societies as that is the only way to move forward and be able to understand culture. And by doing this, he feels Africa can prosper in the arts industry. “Our culture has come under siege and confrontation during the colonial period. Their intention was to destroy it but we have the tools to undo it.
There are things that happened during the colonial period all across Africa but we do not have all the information about everything that happened,” he said. In addition, Gadzekpo said African artists should be the ones telling their own heritage and not have people who are not bred in Africa be the ones to talk about the second best continent in the world.
“If world famous artists such as Picasso could draw from African traditional art, then African artists should also embrace their heritage and infuse it into their own creations and tell their own stories,” he said. “And we do not afford to let ourselves go because if we let ourselves go, what are we left with?” he asked. Despite all this, Gadzekpo urged artists to make money while in their vocation. He implored them to also be business minded when it comes to their art so that they earn an income for themselves.
