Tshenyego decries lack of government support

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Friday July 30, 2010 00:00

'One of the major problems is that when the directive was introduced, many flyby-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 should be corrected.

He asserted that as a fulltime artist, he is struggling to put food on the table.

'I really need big capital to establish myself as an artist and also mentor up-and-coming artists,' he said adding in some European countries such as Italy, government empowers 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 fulltime artists.

Tshenyego also challenged government ministries to consider engaging residents 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.

'In some countries, government hospitals engage artists to provide art therapy to patients and pay them for their services, so this could be done in Botswana as well,' he asserted.

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.