Ketshotseng’s art exhibition for charity
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Sunday November 5, 2023 06:00
The exhibition follows Ketshotseng's recent walk from Lobatse to Gaborone which was also part of his mission to raise funds for BCD. With this exhibition, Ketshotseng has gone all out by exhibiting 30 large, intriguing and mind-blowing masterpieces from his 2023 collection. He told Arts&Culture that the exhibition is meant for charity. He stated that its objective is to encourage people to change their mindset and realise that art can help improve lives. Furthermore, he explained that the exhibition is also meant to promote art and expose it to the general public, collectors, media, companies, government and cultural institutions. “The intention is also to make visual art fashionable, to sell masterpieces and donate part of the proceeds to the (BCD) that is embarking on a journey to start disability and art projects next year that is expected to run for three years,” Ketshotseng said.
He continued: “As the CEO of Kenny Arts, I have been teaching art to many excelling artists. As my students excel and start their own, I then wondered whether my efforts would not be beneficial to differently disabled persons. That is why I decided to pitch myself to the BCD for a partnership to pursue this cause,” he added. Ketshotseng said it was easy to reach an agreement with the BCD because they are both on a common course. “My dream is to work with them and see one-day exhibiting artworks from people from their organisation,” he explained. Ketshotseng also said his passion for visual art comes a long way.
He told Arts&Culture that as someone who comes from humble beginnings, he fought hard to reach this level. He explained that he had to sell hotdogs to make money to buy art materials. “I started from humble beginnings. I started selling hotdogs at Main Mall to buy materials to support my art ambitions. I continued until I went to Thapong Visual Arts Centre where I stayed for a couple of years before moving to give others space to enjoy the same fruits. With hard work, I grew satisfactorily,” he said.
Additionally, the 36-year-old said he eventually saw the fruits of his hard work and started to get gigs. He said he worked on big projects such as murals for big corporate clients such as Continental Reasurence, Nandos, Carerra Holdings, etc. “Today I celebrate my achievements and proudly say I can do any art mural. I’m also proud that I took young artists alongside me as I grew. I taught them new styles and pushed them from their comfort zones because you don’t like to be fixed on a comfort zone. It does not inspire growth,” he said. He explained that most of his artworks are inspired by his feelings on a particular moment.
He encouraged the public to visit the mall to view his artworks and buy them to support his initiative. “My dream is to grow, not alone but with people around me, especially my students. I want to have an impact on the community through visual arts. I want to prove to people that art is capable of putting food on the table. I want to have a big mark on my motherland. I want to work on a project that will make art be recognised and appreciated country-wide,” he stated.