I was born to be a visual artist - Tshenyego

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Friday August 20, 2010 00:00

 

He told Arts & Culture that he realised that he had talent at a young age and luckily for him, he had an early grooming as he started doing art as a subject in his primary school days.

'Doing art at primary school helped me realise my talent early enough and now I can confidently say that I am an established visual artist,' Tshenyego said in an interview.

Luckily for him, he met an artist from Poland whom he only remembers as Kepka, who was an established artist.  Kepka and a Motswana artist, Jacob Disele, took Tshenyego under their wings and mentored him.  He credits them for making him the artist that he is today.

By the time he finished schooling, his passion for the arts had totally consumed him and he decided that the only path that he could follow was one in the discipline.  As a result, he worked for a number of companies that dealt in art business such as Chobe Designs, Maun Crafts Centre and Botswanacraft doing different jobs for them.

In February this year, he quit his job to become a full-time artist and he joined the reputable Thapong Visual Arts Centre and fortunately he managed to secure a studio at the centre where he is currently based. 

Tshenyego is of the view that people should learn to hold artists in high regard because most of them are 'green people' who do their best to conserve nature.

'Most artists recycle materials to come up with their pieces and a true artist is somebody who would never do anything to hurt the environment,' he asserted.

The artists further said that he admires the internationally renowned artists, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, who have greatly inspired him. He said like da Vinci he is into the sciences, especially the study of the human anatomy.

The artist pointed out that although he mostly specialises in realistic art, he is able to do abstract pieces as well.

Tshenyego calls himself an international artist as his works match international standards. Apart from making paintings he has also done a number of leatherworks, which he sells to supplement his meagre earnings.

His passion to see the arts in Botswana growing has seen him mentoring up and coming artists, especially those who are still in school.  He said that since he wants to initiate change in the visual arts, he offers his lessons free of charge, but he wishes that he could find someone to back him financially in this endeavour.

Like most artists, he decried lack of government support.  The versatile artist said that despite the directive that government departments should buy artworks from local artists, some of his peers are still struggling to sell their pieces.

'One of the major problems is that when the directive was introduced, many fly-by-night artists flooded the departments with their poor quality works and this meant that serious artist like me are left out,' he lamented.

The artist expressed worry that most of the people tasked with buying pieces for government are not trained in the arts and that is why they could easily buy sub-standard artworks, which he felt to be corrected.

He asserted that as a full-time artist, he is struggling to put food on the table and that he is feeling that government is not doing enough to support full-time artist.

'I really need big capital to establish myself as an artist and also mentor up-and-coming artist,' he said adding that in some European countries such as Italy, governments empower artists by commissioning them to do murals and other artworks.He further called on government to establish a fund that should be solely used to empower full-time artists.

Tshenyego also challenged government ministries to consider engaging resident artists who could be contracted to decorate their offices for a given period of time saying this could help improve the livelihoods of local artists.

He asserted that in some countries, government hospitals engage artists to provide what he called 'art therapy' to patients and pay them for their services.

According to the artist, art therapy is when artists are engaged to teach patients art techniques and this helps in their speedy recovery.

He said that since the concept has worked well in other countries, he believes it could work well in Botswana. 

Tshenyego asserted that currently, he is forced to depend on the money that he earns from selling to private collectors, which has proven to be a challenge since most Batswana do not have appreciation for art.

He also said that since President Ian Khama's government believes in delivery, they as artists should be empowered so that they also do their bit.

One could only hope that Tshenyego would be able to stand the test of time and persevere in this dog-eat-dog industry of the visual arts.