19 Jun 2018

Chairperson of Creative Industries Sector at Human Resources Development Council (HRDC) Phillip Segola has challenged artists to improve their aesthetic to be able to sell outside the country.

Giving a word of advice at the President’s Day Southern Region Fashion Show competitions hosted by Lobatse, Segola said with the high unemployment rate, artists, as well as youth, should be creative and urged them to use their talents to get out of poverty and create jobs. 

He implored artists to desist from copying foreign cultures, saying that does not show success, but rather implored them to be original.

“Your designs should symbolise and denote Botswana culture, ” he said.

He said artists talents were a bequest to the nation, therefore, they should not be comfortable, but rather unleash their potential.

Furthermore, Segola encouraged fashion designers, dressmakers, and models to make the industry commercial.

He said taking the vocation as a business meant consideration of the quality when it comes to their products and most importantly their customer’s expectations.

“Commitment, networking and partnerships, exchange of ideas and meeting customer’s expectations, are prerequisites for artists’ success in this industry,” he said.

 He said government appreciated and acknowledged the value and contribution of young people to the economic development of the country.

He indicated that in most developed countries, the fashion industry was one of the major contributors to the economy and that it was a major source of employment.

President’s Day competitions are held under the theme: Creative Industries: A Vehicle for Sustainable Development. ENDs