Dhaa Botswana to shine light on local talents
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Sunday October 29, 2023 06:00
The organisers said the event is aimed at highlighting and stimulating support for the local arts, fashion, crafts and culture with an emphasis on expanding sustainability, international exposure, investment opportunities, increased tourism, cross-sector engagement upskilling, employment generation and national pride.
Dhaa Botswana co-founder, Ikanyeng Molemele, told Arts&Culture that the event will be held at the Cresta Mowana Safari Resort & Spa.
It will see a high velocity of fashion and arts showcases by local and international fashion designers, exhibitors and first-class cultural and popular contemporary entertainers.
Molemele explained that the event is in consonant with the country’s agenda to make Botswana a tourism destination of choice.
“Botswana has adopted a transformational agenda with the objective of making the country an upper-earning economy by 2030.
The Reset Agenda is therefore a tool that will strengthen Botswana’s position to attain its transformational agenda,” Molemele said.
Furthermore, she said the hosting of international conferences and events is one of the interventions adopted to attract investors and tourists to Botswana, hence their plan to host such an event. “That basically requires us as Batswana anywhere in the world to find meaningful ways in which we can actualise and advance our country’s agenda and promote its brand.
Dhaa Botswana is therefore a brand that contributes to branding Botswana by promoting sustainable tourism,” she explained. On other matters, she said the event will attract people from different places, the business community, investors, models, visual artists, crafters and even just ‘life lovers’. Molemele said creatives have found it difficult to make meaningful opportunities as such. She said they found it their duty to create the possibilities. “We want our very own Naomi Campbell.
Most people think modeling isn’t art, but it is art because you need techniques to make it to the world audience. Not forgetting our very own Kaone Kario. We want to see our visual artists selling their pieces for millions of dollars. Here in Botswana, we have the great Wilson Ngoni, we have the Moses Maaramela. I recently met the great Lorreta Mekgwe,” she said.
Furthermore, the idea is to create Botswana’s own superstars who would be admired by the world. She said Botswana has a lot to offer and can compete on the international stage, Molemele said. She said their guests include game changers and leading industry players of international repute from abroad who will speak on different topics such as art and fashion while also sharing their success stories. “We love a powerful woman at Dhaa Botswana, so Rene MacDonald, the founder and creative director of Lisou London, will be joining us here in Botswana.
Now, I must say we need more designers and more visual artists from Botswana to come forward and share their talent with the world. We are bringing people that we believe will shed light into our country and we believe we will shed light into them too,” she added. Molemele said with the magnitude of the event, they are hoping to get sponsorships from some leading companies in the country.
She expressed gratitude to companies such as Prestine Properties, Nora Cosmetics, Namibia Broadcasting Corporation and World Craft Council as well as individuals such as Miss Jay Beauty Care and Lizibo for their unwavering support.