Moroka returns from Zim's HIFA 'a lot wiser'

NNASARETHA KGAMANYANE
Correspondent | Tuesday May 14, 2013 00:00

Moroka was invited to HIFA 2013 Arts and Culture practitioners' meeting at which  artists from Zimbabwe and other countries  discussed ways to promote and sell the creative industry in Africa.'I have learnt a lot from that meeting.We discussed how we can grow our arts festivals; performances and how to attract sponsors (sell of our shows).We came up with constructive ways of using social media to sell our festivals and shows,' he told Showbiz.The young man, who is passionate in grooming the creative arts in the country, said that he has learnt much from the Zimbabwean event.

He said that he was fascinated by the way the business sector is involved in the grooming of the entertainment industry including the performing arts. He said that private companies together with embassies support the performing arts industry, which enables the arts to contribute to Zimbabwe's gross domestic product (GDP).Moroka said that at Zimbabwe arts industry is taken seriously that is why companies are on board, as they believe in investing the industry. He said that this has enabled Zimbabwean arts grow and gave many of the countries artists international recognition.

'In Botswana companies do not do much to promote arts. We have a lot of talent here but we are limited by either lack or shortage of resources. Without money our creative industry will not grow, for example, I rent an office that requires me to pay rent per month, as I want to be professional. Sometimes we do not have shows, which force us to look for some money to pay rent as we rely on our profession to put food on our table,' he said.He pointed out that in Botswana people do not take arts seriously and that they do not want to pay for the hard work the artists put in their shows. 'Most of them want us to perform for peanuts.

I would like Batswana to understand that arts are our job; we use our talents to create jobs for other people like any other profession. They have to know that we also pay tax, bills, and administration fees like any other company does but people do not want to pay for our services,' he said with a tinge of disappointment.Moroka calls on private companies to sponsor the local performing arts industry and use artists to advertise their products like golfer Tiger Woods and soccer star David Beckham are used in overseas adverts. He said that he aims to groom local talent through the arts and as he has earned himself international recognition he hopes that many other Batswana in the same industry will be able to get international exposure, which is good for the artists and the country.

He said that he has created international friends to network with as they search ways and means of selling the creative industry. He networks with different artists from countries like Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, France and Kenya. He thanks the Department of Arts and Culture for making his trip possible as they paid for his accommodation and airfares.