San artist Thamae mobilises her community

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Friday March 12, 2010 00:00

 

The beautiful and fashionable artist says that she started making crafts more than nine years back but back then she did that to mostly sell her products to make a living for herself as an individual and  was not aware that she could turn her talent into business and that is before she met members of Skillshare International who helped change her fortunes.

Arts & Culture had an opportunity to meet this remarkable woman recently at a workshop organised by Conservation International in Kang. The formidable Thamae told Arts & Culture that the purpose of her project is to promote Botswana tourism 'by bringing to the world the extra-ordinary art of the indigenous San people of Botswana'. A special focus of her venture is on handcrafted jewellery and accessories, which are mostly created, using beads made from ostrich egg-shells.

'The process of creating beads are arduous and time-consuming, but the results are stunning,' asserted the 35-year-old San artist. Thamae further said that her artists use hatched ostrich egg-shells collected from game farms. The artists break them up into small pieces with their hands, teeth and sometimes with stones and then using a springbok horn, the pieces are gently chipped into beads shapes and then holes are made using a hand-drill stick.

The artist started Souvenirs of the Kalahari in 2004 and she together with fellow members are currently in the process of registering it as an association. Thamae's talents did not escape the eyes of former president Festus Mogae who in 2006 invited her to accompany him to some Scandinavian countries as a special guest. The enterprising craftswoman took with her some of her products and, as fate would have it, her trip opened many doors and it help her to secure a market in Sweden and Norway. Currently, some of her artworks are displayed at Anne Murray Intendert, Dokumentation Och Arkiu, Et Nografiska Museet in Sweden. In the United States of America (US), they are displayed at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC, among other places. Other places where Souvenirs of the Kalahari has been able to secure a market include the United Kingdom (UK), South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Kenya and Tanzania. In Botswana, they mostly supply curio shops, government departments and individuals.

Thamae, like a number of San artists, decries the fact that there are unscrupulous individuals out there who are determined to exploit the San and their talents. She mentions a Canadian who at one point was her boyfriend who offered to help her market her products instead made a killing by selling her products in the US and disappearing with the loot. She said that at first, the venture was a successful one as there was mutual trust between them.

Thamae says that much later, she realised that she was being cheated as the man gave her little money and she decided to severe all ties with him. She added that this has greatly compromised her US market since the man acted as a middleman and he is the only one who knew the right contacts.

Thamae told Arts & Culture that she has learnt her lesson and that she is determined that in future, nobody would rob her of her hard-earned cash. She pointed out that her salvation came in the form of Skillshare International whom she met in Ghanzi in March, 2008. The organisation then suggested to her that in order for them to help Souvenirs of the Kalahari, she should form a group, which she did.

At the moment, Souvenirs of the Kalahari consists of 10 members from New Xade and 20 members from West Hanahai.

'Since our re-launch in January, 2009, we have been fortunate to have a donor support from Kellogg's Foundation in a collaborative programme with Skillshare International and encouragement from government and other sectors,' she told Arts & Culture. She further said that her organisation hopes to work with their communities  in a participative way, placing the responsibility for development initiatives in their hands. Thamae also said that their research has shown that many communities in the Kalahari consider lack of education and employment as their greatest challenges and that since they stay in remote areas they have limited access to government's citizenship empowerment  programmes. She however asserted that the spirit of cooperation that exists among members of Souvenirs of the Kalahari has enabled them to tackle a number of issues together.

Thamae says that since the re-launch of the project one of its primary objectives is to promote the sustainable use of natural resources for the benefit of the people, more especially the marginalised and vulnerable poor. They also hope to strengthen their project by improving natural resources management and support income e generating activities in their targeted communities.

'Souvenirs of the Kalahari has a long way to go before the project can have an impact on remote rural communities in West Hanahai and New Xade. However, the first few months of the programme have been encouraging and we hope that we will be able to work effectively with our targeted communities to help reduce poverty in our respective areas,' Thamae said.