Perseverance, diligence pay for gifted Radinoga

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Thursday December 17, 2009 00:00

The artist from Serowe has gone through many adversities that would have left the faint-hearted in the dust.  Today, the man cannot stop bursting with pride as he talks about his latest 'baby', the statue of Kgosikgolo Bathoen II, which was bought by the Bangwaketse morafe for more than P 500 000.

'I made this statue to prove to my detractors that I am capable of making some sculptures that could be looked at with awe by Batswana,' he tells Mmegi during an interview.

Like many artists, the man with graying hair has a rebellious streak in him. He is not shy to express himself if he does not approve of something. One can safely conclude that he might have left him with a number of enemies in his wake.

Those who know the artist will tell you how he was frustrated when he failed to secure the deal to make the statutes of 'the three Dikgosi', Kgosi Khama of Bangwato, Kgosi Sebele I of Bakwena and Kgosi Bathoen I of Bangwaketse.  Although he concedes to Showbiz that it was possible that he had been under resourced back then, he would have benefited a lot had he been availed the chance to understudy the Koreans who eventually snatched the contract. While his detractors say that he is bitter for losing out to the Koreans, he claims that his main discontentment was that those who handled the tender reneged on the original promise that they would make major Batswana contenders (himself and Abel Manatsha) understudy the ultimate tender winners if they were foreign.

This sculptor of note was born 54 years ago to Radinoga and Olebogeng Masilo in the city of Francistown. His father was a senior member of Masilo ward in Serowe, a ward that prides itself in having produced prominent dikgosi in Gammangwato including Mokgacha Mokgadi who was a regent for a long time and Ngakaemang Lebati who was also a deputy at the main Ngwato kgotla. Radinoga did his primary education in Tatitown Primary School before proceeding to Setlalekgosi Secondary. He then dropped off before he could complete his primary education. 'I then joined Lekgaba Arts Centre because the people there realised my potential as an artist,' he says. The artist lasted less than a year at the centre before going to Botswana Game Industries (BGI) where he learnt ivory carving.

In 1974, BGI sent him to Bulawayo School of Art in the then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) but he did not last at the place as well. 'I did not stay for long in Bulawayo because the environment was not conducive for studying since it was during the time of the liberation struggle,' says the artist adding that since he was young back then, he also missed home.

He reminisces that there was a time when he was nearly tortured by white Rhodesian police who suspected him of being a liberation soldier and that is when his father asked him to return to Botswana.

This meant that he had to go back to his old job at BGI.

'Since I did not want to be stuck with ivory carving, I then decided to go to the Harry Taylor Foundry in South Africa where we were taught casting,' says the sculptor adding that it was there at the foundry that he abandoned ivory carving in favour of sculpturing and clay-moulding. After a short stint, he left the Harry Taylor Foundry to start a project called The Craftsman, in which he taught the San in the north-western part of the country the skill of carving.

He says that his project has been able to produce artists who are able to support themselves with the skills that they have learnt from him. 'Although I was earning money from the services that I offered, the most important thing was that I was able to impart a gift that has helped uplift my nation,' he says.

Radinoga says that he remembers that one of the major sales that he made after stopping The Craftsman project was when he sold a life-size carving of a Tswana maiden playing setinkane to a collector he only knows as Borrelo. The other work that he remembers fondly is a set of pieces entitled Donkey on Football Shirts showcasing zebras, which he made in 1980.

Some  of  the outstanding artworks that the sculptor has done include, the life-size busts of Kgosi Leatile Moremi of the Batawana, Sir Seretse Khama, Kgosi Seepapitso IV of the Bangwaketse, Kgosi Lotlaamoreng of the Barolong. Life-size statues include that of Bathoen II, which is set to be mounted at the Kanye kgotla soon and that of Sir Seretse Khama.

The Sir Seretse Khama fiberglass statue is complete and the sculptor is awaiting a go-ahead from the Khama family to have it made into bronze replica.

Other works that this talented artist has made are the crocodile relief at the Kanye kgotla and a number of relief pieces at the Mass Media Complex offices.