Visual Artists advised to up their game
Spira Tlhankane | Thursday February 18, 2016 15:33
The purpose of the workshop was to help artists come up with winning entries.
Local artists will be entering the competition for the second time after failing to make a mark last year.
Principal Curator 1 at MYSC, Monica Selelo, told the artists about some of the winning artworks from last year.
Selelo, who was one of the judges, told the artists to pay attention to technical issues.
She said compared to other works from other African countries, local artwork needs to improve. “Artists should learn to engage experts to critique their work in the studio,” she said. Selelo said local artists should pay attention to issues of originality and copyright. “You should go beyond the idea behind the beautiful work,” she said.
Selelo added that presentation and quality also matters if the artists want to bring the title home. “We need to come up with something new, visit sites and galleries to get inspiration,” she said. Selelo said Botswana needs highly creative and innovative artists who could think outside the box.
Barclays L’Atelier is Africa’s most prestigious art competition and an ideal platform for young and emerging artists from across Africa to showcase their talent and get their foot into the visual arts industry.
This year’s winner will win R225,000 (P158,000) and an international residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris for six months and have artwork displayed at the Absa Gallery in Johannesburg.
Artists are required to register and enter their artwork between February 29, 2016 and March 2016.
The competition is eligible to artists who are permanent residents of and residing in South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Egypt, Mauritius or Seychelles.