Curating becoming increasingly popular
Mompati Tlhankane | Sunday January 30, 2022 06:00
Curators are typically tasked with deciding which pieces to exhibit and which to store. When selecting which objects to present for permanent displays and temporary shows, curators can approach the objects in a myriad of ways. Pieces are often selected according to theme, artist, time period, and contemporary relevance or popularity.
While this is not a sought-after discipline yet, the coordinator of Thapong Visual Arts Centre, Reginald Bakwena told Arts & Culture in an interview that curating is very important to any artist if he or she intends to align themselves. “Curators are trained to promote and speak about artworks on behalf of artists. They normally develop their own artists and understand the taste of that particular artist.
They represent artists very well because they have known them from their interactions. When they present an artist to a gallery, they sell both the artist and artwork,” he explained. Bakwena said curators are well respected because when they organise exhibitions, they give an artist an opportunity to sell and penetrate the market.He also said curators are important because they develop networks and help artists to sell.
He said in Botswana the good thing is that they have curators who are coming up like Obed Mokhuhlani and others. Bakwena said last year most people went out to show interest in curating and therefore it was quite an improvement for the visual arts sector. He said artists must work together with curators if they want to go international. “Curatorial exhibition is very different from your normal Thapong exhibitions because there is more energy put into it. Most curators have strong backgrounds in fine art and marketing,” he said.
He added that as Thapong they are working with other curators from outside Botswana. Bakwena also revealed that curators can decide not to exhibit some works if they are not satisfied about certain aspects. He said artists should engage curators more especially when they know that their work can speak for themselves. He said curators know what the market wants no wonder there is need to develop and train more curators in Botswana.