MmaBotswana to illuminate Thamaga on V. Day
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Monday February 3, 2025 10:45
For many people, Valentine’s Day is a perfect opportunity to express love, and what better way to do it with a shared artistic adventure. To make this year’s occasion memorable for Thamaga residents, fine artist and fashion designer, Tshegofatso Tlholwe, otherwise known as MmaBotswana, will host an exhibition titled, My Love Letter to Thamaga. The Thamaga native told Arts&Culture that she would be doing a public display of giant props and flowers around Thamaga village on February 14 to share her love with the residents.
“The idea came about giving back to the community by spreading the love to people as a way of showing unity as a community, creating memorable moments for the public as they will pass by the setup displays to take selfies and videos for themselves,” MmaBotswana said. She explained that this is a way to remind people that she is an artist and such, her exhibitions should be presented for the public to appreciate and build connection with them. “MmaBotswana is a creative platform that initiates artistic concepts to create jobs for the unemployed youth in rural areas. Its mandate is to help tackle this high rate of unemployment in Botswana. Soon we will launch a business model called Mmadithunya Deco, which is collaborating with MmaBotswana on this exhibition project to show its potential to the community,” she added.
Furthermore, she explained that the new concept, Mmadithunya Deco will be operated by the youth. “We hope Batswana will appreciate its uniqueness to support small businesses. We are still negotiating with other local businesses to collaborate with them so we use their facilities as a display and open doors for them to use the project to their advantage,” she said. MmaBotswana said she also hopes this exhibition will inspire people to share love and express their creativity. MmaBotswana’s artistic disciplines include painting, performing arts (dancer), and fashion design.
She is an enthusiastic artist whose artistic talent started as a hobby. She said she started with fashion design sketches, and after perfecting her sketching skills, she started trying her luck portraits. She also has a clothing line, called Glamlook, which carries a variety of clothing items including dresses, and t-shirts, some of which she decorates with African Print and German Print materials.