Members Exhibitions to prepare artists for President’s Day Competition and TAYA

poor presentation and weak concepts continue to be a concern- Bakwena

LAME BOGATSU

Thapong Visual Arts Centre Coordinator Reginald Bakwena says the annual Thapong Members Exhibitions are meant to prepare artists for the upcoming President’s Day Competitions and the Thapong Artists of the Year Awards which take place towards the end of every year to recognize artists.
Speaking to Time Out in an interview recently, Bakwena said they hoped that the exhibitions would prepare artists for the TAYA and President’s Day competition, the biggest competitions in the country. “There is no denying that although there have been some improvements; there are still a few shortcomings that are noticeable year in year out. This is why we have decided to really commit to prepare artists with this first exhibition,” he said, expressing further concern about poor presentation and weak concepts which he says continue to be major issues.
Bakwena said that artists were briefed on what they should expect in the competition, because in the past some artists were unclear about what was expected of them. “We gave them pointers on how to improve their works so that it is in a better state,” he said.
He also revealed that he was particularly pleased that this year, more artists from as far as Werda and other places beyond Gaborone were submitting, “In the past, this exhibition was mostly enjoyed by artists in Gaborone and surrounding areas so it is nice to see our members in other parts of Botswana taking an interest to participate and show what they can do.”
Although he could not reveal the exact numbers of submitted works, he said submissions were made in categories of Painting, Sculpture, Drawing, Photography, Print making.
While the deadline for submissions elapsed last Friday, the exhibition will be held in May on a day that has not yet been disclosed.