Award-winning artist Akanyang Doris Ntshingane’s resourcefulness will come to the fore at an exhibition she co-hosts with fellow painter Batshwanetse Kebalepile at Sanitas on Saturday and Sunday.
The creative woman has a collection, which provides many options for home beauty while at the same time resonating art appreciation.
Ntshingane who usually uses natural resources to produce most of her artworks believes the exhibition would set the tone for a creative year ahead. “This is a chance for me and Kebalepile to spread our wings.
For me especially it provides an opportunity to get feedback from the public as well as fellow artists who would come. I am still growing and I need to challenge myself,” Ntshingane told Arts & Culture.
Ntshigane, who won the first prize under the Local Manufacturers category at the Gaborone Consumer Fair last year, designs house decors like vases, flowers, framed paintings among others. She also uses canvas to create diary covers of different designs and sizes.
The outspoken artist says she chose Sanitas because her artworks fit well within the plantation’s idea of preservation.
“Most of my pieces are made of natural resources and I believe a lot of people who come to Sanitas are those with good taste for home beauty. But this does not mean I cannot exhibit at other places because of art scales generations, cultures and social barriers,” she said.
“It is through exhibitions such as this one that I hope to reach out to Batswana to make them realise that our surroundings are full of useful waste. I use palm branches, wood and other pieces from shrubs to create house decorations.
These are the same things that your neighbour would be having headaches trying to dispose of,” she said.
The year 2014 was particularly a good one for the self-taught crafts woman who only started her first piece in 2008. Apart from winning at the consumer fair, she also scooped first prize at the Women’s Expo in the Fine Arts category.
She also closed the year on a high when her installation piece won a prize at the annual Thapong Artist of the Year Awards.
She says since moving to her studio at Thapong last July, she has seen interest in her works grow.
“I have seen a lot of growth in the last year, but obviously it cannot be enough because one has to aim higher.
I need more exhibitions and even if I do not sell much my passion is my driving force, satisfaction with my creativity is the ultimate goal, profit will just be a bonus,” she said.
