Art Can Drive Innovation � Mothobi
Staff Writer | Monday November 14, 2016 16:56
He was the guest speaker at the 2016 annual Thapong btc Phone Book cover reveal night held at Thapong Art Centre on Thursday.
Mothobi told the gathering that in developed countries art is taken for the important economic activity that it is, adding that had it not been for the arts a lot of technological inventions that we enjoy today would not have been realised.
He cited that currently, developed countries enjoy innovations and intellectual property, all thanks to the arts.
Mothobi noted that after the Second World War there had been an upsurge in general tariffs on trade and services, with intellectual property rights, a component of the general trade, now becoming the lynchpin of capitalist economies.
According to Mothobi, intellectual property today has been concretised into economic activity and has become very much part of international business, and “we are now being challenged to be part of that regime that govern arts.”
Mothobi said it is too easy not to take artists such as poets, painters and musicians seriously here because it is still difficult to imagine, say a poet getting up at 5am so that by 8am they are at work, which is already happening in bigger economies; “They just need to manage their business, taking advantage of technology”.
Mothobi said in the local context, it is difficult to achieve this because you need to deal with the mindset.
He described the art as revolutionary, challenging the established order of things, fluid, dynamic and radical, citing world famous artist Pablo Picasso, who cut his own ear and used it on a piece of his art. Mothobi wondered if there was someone here who could do that.
While art in some cases can make artists prosperous, Mothobi warned that getting rich should not be the motive. According to him, art is all about exploring creativity, adding that at btc Foundation, they are trying to help artists get revolutionary, and challenged local artists to move with the times as the world is not waiting for them. “If we do not see it from that perspective then we will never get there.”
He reminded the gathering that while other drivers of economies in the region like minerals get depleted with time, the art form is infinite.
He observed that there had been a mini-boom in local music, especially traditional music in recent times, but wondered why there has been no empirical study for the Botswana music economy, to show how much it played a role in the economy. Mothobi warned that in the absence of such a study, the efforts are fruitless.
The btc foundation chairperson reiterated their commitment to continue to support the arts, adding that they see their project as more than just a phone book cover competition, but to support institutions like Thapong for the blossoming of the arts.
Justicd Mothobi also challenged the event coordinators not to treat art as a thing for the elites, advising that the participation for the phone book prize should be spread geographically, gender- wise and across age categories. “I would like to see much more representations, otherwise we are creating little kingdoms, leaving out the real talent out there…I sit in the kgotla at Serowe and see boys and girls showcasing their talents and I don’t see them here,” he advised.
However director of ceremonies, Boingotlo Marope, also the phone book directory services manager, was happy to report back that the last five years the btc phone book competition was open only to schools, and that the prizes went to students from various schools such as Naledi in Gaborone, and John Mackenzie in Francistown.
She said this year the competition received 102 submissions, from all walks of life, all over the country.
The btc directory services manager added that over 100,000 copies of the directory are printed every year for distribution locally, thereby giving the winner the platform for his or her work to be seen by over 100,000 people.
Marope said they also have an online directory service as well as a 24-7 call centre service.
Meanwhile, the judging panel have described this year’s task as daunting. Speaking on behalf of the other two judges, Kentse Bogatsu said they awarded points based on the theme specifications, adding that the artists had to incorporate the 50th anniversary journey and the role that the btc had played in development; living connected, Batswana living together, connected to the rest of the world. Bogatsu added that they were also looking for originality, power of invention, the redesign aspect. The 102 submissions were reduced to top 15, then top five, and top three, from which the eventual winner Elijah Tshukudu was selected. He walked away with P40,000, while runners-up, Ogopoleng Kgomoethata, and third place winner got P10,000. Btc foundation also gave P1,000 cash prizes to the rest of the top 10 artists.