Thapong, based on the Old Village end of Gaborone, is now in its 26th year of existence.
After 25 years, the institution deserves acknowledgement of its work after the MEDU Arts Ensemble disbanded following the South African Defence Force raid on Gaborone in 1985.
ArtsViews aims to get comment from the co-founder of the arts and exhibition centre next week.
Below are notes for a foreword that deputy director of the Botswana National Museum, Stephen Mogotsi, writes for a book on the work of Thapong.
“The critically important role of the arts in life is to enable us to see the world and the human condition differently; to see a truth we might not have understood before.
Artists are often a source of truth, order, harmony, and meaning. By unlocking people’s imagination and stirring emotions they cause people to pause, think and reflect. This process of being able to think in different ways and sense the possibilities can inspire the people around us. Similarly, it may influence the bureaucrat, economist, scientist or politician to see interconnections and hypothesize about variables in ways they may not have considered before.
Lying at the core of every society is culture. If culture is defined as the entire system of beliefs, practices and customs that exist in a society; then art is a means of bringing about social change. For instance art, drama, film and music can help people get to grips with their own lives by raising issues that affect them in their daily lives and identify achievable solutions. This was somewhat the case with the Medu Art Ensemble in the late 70’s when exiled artists and activists working from Gaborone, used literature, theatre, visual art and music to speak out against South Africa’s apartheid government. For the first time in Botswana, resident and a handful of local artists collectively set up an art movement that saw transformation in various genres. Medu was however forced to disband after a violent raid of their headquarters by the South African Defence Force in 1985
A decade later Thapong (Thapong Visual Art Trust) was founded along the models of the Triangle, Thupelo and Pachipamwe art workshops. The opportunity to host artists of international repute, working side by side with local artists, somewhat catapulted the level of practice, understanding and appreciation of the visual arts in Botswana. Over the years, Thapong has set up a home, bred, and nurtured a pool of talented painters, sculptors and printmakers by continually availing the platform for artistic expression through dialogue, workshops and exhibitions. Thapong has successfully created an inclusive environment for intellectual, personal and socioeconomic development. Some of these artists are now independent; they have their own studios and websites, even if they have to continue with some other work to make ends meet.
Whereas contemporary art may have been regarded as a male domain for some time, Thapong successfully bridged the gender gap by a deliberate effort to promote women artists. The Thapong Visual Arts Centre introduced in 1998/9 has become a springboard for the upcoming and recently graduated artists and a potential link with the wider art world. It is also commendable that the government of Botswana has in recent years embraced artistic talent and shown the much needed support for the local artists by hosting annual exhibitions and purchasing artworks thereof.
It is through determination, perseverance and hard work that Thapong is what it is today. After two successful decades, Thapong now needs to take stock of its existence and more consciously increase its role in the socio-economic development of society. The local authorities and planners need to realise the opportunities for the inclusion of artistic representation. Our environment should incorporate art precincts, galleries and public spaces to allow for more creative potential.
“The ability of the members of a community to relate creatively to themselves, their neighbours, their environment and the world at large so that each one might express his maximum potential. Such development, then, has a lot to do with the distribution of power and of resources ÔÇô who gets what, how, and why? It is, basically, a process of empowerment” (Pradervand, 1989).
Therefore the sector has to pioneer the programme by identifying lobbyist strategies to give the arts a more prominent place on the national political agenda. This approach should also facilitate the formulation of policies, programmes and strategies to promote intercultural artistic relationships.”
*Stephen Thapelo Mogotsi is Deputy Director of the Botswana National Museum. He is an artist and was chairperson of Thapong from 1993 -1995
