Establishment of UB Arts School applauded

BABOKI KAYAWE
Staff Writer | Wednesday June 2, 2010 00:00

One of the country's seasoned performing artists, Tjawangwa TJ Dema hailed it as 'long overdue and most welcome'. 

Dema said the ground work laid by community development theatre practitioners, performance poets, other artists and initiatives such as the British Council's Power in the Voice have over the last decade indicated that Batswana have a genuine interest and commitment to the arts.  Though he does not know the course content, Dema said VAPA will certainly equip future artists with the relevant skills in their chosen field.

Borrowing from Paul Engle, the writer and founder of the Iowa International Writing Program, she said 'writing is like making love: it is astonishing how far pure instinct will carry you. It is also true of both these lyrical forms of expression that a few things consciously learned will push toward perfection what might otherwise be an ordinary act'.

Dema said though there is talent locally, it has not been nurtured enough. She said the infrastructure required to nurture it has not been implemented as evidenced by the absence of mentorship programmes and lack of arts administrators and activists to create programs relevant to where Botswana wants to go in terms of the arts.

Commenting on challenges that artists are faced with in the country, she said payment is a huge issue, as procurement officials want to negotiate artists' rates to almost nothing.

'That may also stem from the fact that in Botswana you could not exclusively study performing arts, making it an unquantifiable skill,' she said. 

She added that is often reflected in the lack of seriousness given to the arts.The VAPA program, she said may go some way towards reshaping these kind of perceptions and their consequences.

She called for acknowledgement of other facets of Botswana society besides football. She made the point that the arts is complementary to human development.

'They have proven themselves as an effective communication tool that also helps to address social ills. This in addition to the clear therapeutic effect they have communally and on individual members of society,' she said.

Performing and visual arts scholar, Professor David Kerr, who has written books on African theatre and also happens to be a VAPA committee member, says the program is long overdue as it was planned for as early as 1996.

'If Botswana is serious about culture it needs to have cultural arts in the syllabus,' said Kerr, also the head of media studies at UB.Kerr said, depending on how flexible the university policies will be on recruitment and academic structures, the program will equip future performing artists with much needed skills as mostly people in the industry are self taught.

He urged that if the right balance of staff is recruited; a mixture of academics and practitioners, and encouragement given to the implementation of the programme's strategic plan this could be one of the most innovative VAPA programmes in Africa.

Asked how much input has countries like South Africa had in their visual and performing arts scene through offering such courses, he said the input is immense. 'It has had an impact and several graduates from such programmes are active in Botswana and some of them may be recruited into VAPA,' he said.

In addition, he said, the program will certainly build links with other universities in southern Africa.

Kerr said if well coordinated, this program will provide a theoretical basis, research, archiving, criticism and networking through workshops. He added that it could also point to ways in which the arts can contribute to development communications.  

Commenting on challenges facing the visual and performing arts scene in Botswana, he said they are not widely recognised and despite the country having talent, it lacks sustained nurturing.

'Typically, young visual and performing artists are very active in their youth, but when they realise that it is difficult to find a credible career in the arts they abandon their practice as a youthful hobby; not worth their future and energy,' he said.

He decried the lack of informed criticism in the media. Responding to the impact of lack of an established broadcast media to air the deliberations of artists. He said it is quite a challenge as mediated performance is vital for showcasing talent and encouraging patrons to attend live shows.

The director of Thapong Visual Art Centre, Reginald Bakwena, also said that the program is overdue and presents a great moment for the arts. Bakwena said currently most of the visual artists are self taught which is not wrong, but lamented the shortage of informed commentary in the arts, curatorship as the former lacks the educational power to do this.

'At the moment we lack informed criticism in the media on issues pertaining to arts and artwork. The other problem is lack of authors in the field,' he said.

Moreover, he said the programme will produce locals who can better manage galleries, professional exhibitors and agents for local artists. He also said giving performing and visual arts an academic touch will enhance visibility and competition in addition to the natural talents the various artists have. They will also gain the craft of critiquing and speaking for their products in various media.

The program will, in the future, expand from theatre to music, dance, poetry and mime and visual arts courses which includes painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, photography, print-making, installations and possibly others.