03 Dec 2019

Last week was a jam packed one for the creative arts enthusiasts as Poetavango hosted its annual Maun International Arts Festival (MIAF).

Poetavango is a Maun based non-profit arts organisation established with the aim to promote and enhance the arts in Ngamiland.

This year, the MIAF was an eight-day festivity that brought to Maun refined artistic expressions in the forms of comedy, theatre, poetry, live music, dance, visual arts and literature among others.

It also hosted participants from countries such as Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the United States of America.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Assistant Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Buti Billy commended MIAF organisers for having managed to host the festival for a consecutive nine years.

He said many festivals did not survive that long due to challenges such as lack of sponsorship among others.

Billy encouraged stakeholders to continue with the support, adding that it would keep arts and culture alive in the country.

“It is always refreshing to meet as artists and share ideas on how we can develop our craft as a key driver for socio-economic development in Botswana,” he said.

The Assistant Minister also noted that the ministry was proud to be associated with events such as MIAF as it encouraged everyone to be bold and forthright in the knowledge that acting together to promote arts was also nurturing national pride and identity.

MP for Maun East, Goretetse Kekgonegile also applauded Poetavango for the initiative.

He said as a community, there was need to support such events to ensure that they continued to be in existence for long time.

Chairperson of Poetavango, Legodile Seganabeng said MIAF was growing every year, noting that the event started as a poetry festival.

He said next year they would celebrate 10 years in style and the festival would be bigger and better.

Seganabeng also noted that as much as the festival fostered arts creativity and instilled a sense of cultural pride, it also sought to brand the country as a first-rate tourism destination area. Ends