Meet Ndaba the versatile veteran artist

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Friday September 10, 2010 00:00

 

Arts& Culture recently had an opportunity to meet with this unassuming artist at Thapong Visual Arts Centre, where he is currently overseeing a national art project.

'I consider art as an in-born talent. I started moulding objects with clay long before I started school. Back then, when we were gathered around the fire as children, I would do some experiments in the fire sometimes causing explosions to the amusement of everyone around especially my peers,' he explains.

Although Ndaba never proceeded beyond Junior Certificate (JC), his works will most certainly impress the most discerning connoisseurs. The 48-year-old Ndaba says that his biggest break came in 1989 when he relocated from his home village of Palapye to Gabane since he was staying near the city of Gaborone, where people started appreciating his efforts.

He points out that back then, he sold most of his works for a song as people would buy his them for as little as P30 a piece. His move to Gabane enabled him to attend a number of workshops in the city, which helped him improve his craft.

A couple of years after his relocation, the then chairperson of Thapong, Veryan Edwards invited Ndaba to be the coordinator of the centre and he agreed to do so. This meant that he had to scale down on making artworks and he also had to empower himself by taking up a few administration courses. As coordinator of Thapong, he initiated the Tlhale workshops whose primary objective was to mentor young artists between the age of 18 and 30.

The workshops targeted people studying art as a subject at Molepolole College of Education (MCE) and senior secondary schools in the country and some of the people who passed through his hands are leading artists today.

'When I look back, I can safely say that I have made most of the artists who have now become big names in their own right,' he said.

During his tenure as the coordinator of Thapong, Ndaba travelled all over southern Africa helping coordinate a number of workshops in the region, something he says he is proud of.

Even though he enjoyed his stint at the visual arts centre, he started feeling that he needed a break so that he could focus on making artworks. 'I was too busy with administration work and this hindered me from making as many artworks as I wanted, so I called it quits,' he explains.

Ndaba specialises in semi-abstract paintings, which are always among the most outstanding works at Thapong exhibitions.

Arts & Culture noted that most of the artist's pieces have women as their subjects. This, he says, is because he holds women in high regard because 'they give birth to every human-being.'

'Women are also mostly my subjects because of their natural beauty and love for colour. Yes, it is true that they have their weak points but they have brought up every great man you see and know. Despite their perceived physical weakness, they can also bring down the strongest men,' he says, adding that men should give women the respect they deserve.

Ndaba says one of the reasons he has grown as an artist is because he likes interacting with other artists. Ndaba showed Arts & Culture some of his artworks and behold and lo, all of them had women as their subject. These are some of the artworks that were loaned to the recently opened Bokamoso Private Hospital where they were mounted for some time.

Ndaba asserts that nature and day-to-day life are also his primary inspiration and that he approaches different situations with hope for peace and prosperity. His piece 'Busy Day' depicts women at a market and the artist explained that under normal circumstances, women would never allow their families to starve and that they would do anything to sustain their families.

The other artwork, 'Patlo', showcases women busy at the traditional patlo ceremony during which potential in-laws visit the would-be bride's place to ask for her hand in marriage.

'Bo mme' is another piece that highlights the efforts that women take to keep their families together. It shows that women can also work together in an effort to develop their communities. The versatile artist says that he excels in disciplines of the arts such as drawing, watercolour, oil and acrylic painting, fibreglass and metal sculpturing. To supplement his earnings, he also does commercial welding and tailoring.

Currently, Ndaba is working together with his 10 youthful charges to decorate the silos near the Bommington mall, which have been declared a monument in the city. Part of their assignment includes decorating the said silos and mounting some metal sculptures on them.

Despite his obvious talent, Ndaba, whose artwork prices range from P 600 to P 25, 000 apiece,  says that at times he struggles to sell his works in Botswana because despite many people beginning to appreciate art, they cannot afford to buy them. His next major project , therefore, is venturing out to market his works to international art collectors.