01 Aug 2019

British High Commissioner to Botswana, Katharine Ransome says through the Southern Africa Arts Cluster, the British Council is creating opportunities for urban 18—35 year old artists.

The council is promoting arts and culture, focusing on creative enterprise, connections and festivals, linking up communities and offering exposure for emerging talent.

Ransome was speaking at an event organised to celebrate collaboration between three emerging talents of Botswana arts being Tumelo Bogatsu, Legakwanaleo Makgekgenene and Kago Monageng.

The British Council had also invited one British national, Melissa Hinkin of Cardiff, and a local, Tumelo Thuthuka. Ransome explained that the UK was known around the world for its vibrant culture and diverse arts.

“What is not well known perhaps is that while enriching the world, the creative arts are also an economic power house in their own right. The UK’s creative industries generate about £101 billion (P1.3 trillion) each year in the UK.

That is £11.5m (P149 million) per hour. This is a great contribution to the UK economy than the more celebrated finance sector,” she said. She further noted that three million people worked in the sector, explaining that it was one in every 11 jobs in the UK.

She said the real value of the creative arts was not financial, but lied on how it benefited individuals and society. She added that great art makes people emotional, happy, uneasy or challenged. Ransome added that art provoked people through presenting difficult and sensitive subjects in a way that allowed them to engage and create a safe space for discussion of issues.

Giving a vote of thanks, Thapong Centre coordinator appreciated the British Council for funding the Echoes of Unsilenced Voices. He also encouraged artists to be part of society so that their voices could be heard in matters such as the dangers of climate change.

Information distributed to the press by Thapong Visual Arts indicated that Echoes of Unsilenced Voices is a project which brings together a range of disciplinary works by three emerging local artists.

With the project, Thapong Visual Arts and key locations in Gaborone provide a flexible and experimental platform for the creation of new approaches to art making in Botswana that will instigate dialogue and public participation.

The project was made possible by Thapong Visual Art Centre in partnership with the British Council Southern Africa Arts. Ends