Mwansa showcases plight of women
Shingirai Madondo | Friday March 14, 2014 15:00
With the International Women’s Day having been commemorated last Thursday, visual artists in Francistown have been showcasing their works this week to show the plight of women.
As much as it encourages artists to venture into uncharted territory in modern art, Mwansa said he is trying to play a significant role in exposing some of the plight women in Botswana face on a daily basis.
Having been in Botswana for over 30 years, Mwansa lives in Monarch, where he is a teacher. Mwansa, who hails from Zambia, is a Head of Department at Mmei JSS.
The teacher from Mufulila in the Copperbelt area of Zambia has been into expressive arts for almost 40 years. His passion for drawing and painting was intensified by the fact that he lives in an area where a number of incidences have occured.Monarch is known to be a crime-infested area. And most of the people who are residents in the location are low-income earners as well as some being not so educated.
Mwansa said domestic violence occurs on a daily basis in Monarch. Women and children are abused at will with not much action being taken against the perpetrators.
In most of the cases reports are not made to the relevant authorities, Mwansa said. He said some of the victims do not report the abuse arguing that the elders should solve the domestic matters within the society.
“A lot of my art is inspired by the incidents that happen in Monarch,” said the stout artist, whose wish is to establish an art gallery.
“I saw many bad things happen to women, especially where I stay. I do not have the authority to tell perpetrators that what they are doing is wrong. I also do not have the powers to arrest and punish the perpetrators,” said the artist.
Mwansa can only send a message of how bad domestic violence is through his artworks. His desire is to send a clear message to perpetrators of domestic violence that abuse against women and girl children should end immediately.
Most of Mwansa’s works feature faces of women and girl children. He said each face of a woman or a girl child shows “the hardships” they endure.
“Many of my artworks expose the abuse of women and girl children,” said Mwansa.
In one provocative portrait Installation Mwansa shows a woman’s sorrowful face. One shows a woman breastfeeding a child. Another shows a young child wearing traditional attire and dancing.
He said that some of the challenges women face range from domestic abuse to forced and under-age marriages, giving women away to settle debts, and more.
Most of the work in the contemporary art exhibition is provocative, showing the daily life in Monarch and Francistown in general.
“In some instances, women are chased out of houses by their husbands. Others are forced to breastfeed while standing because they have nowhere else to go,” said the artist. He added that men should understand that women represent unity.