02 Mar 2022

The Creative arts workshop penciled for Friday  at Notwane Gardens will bring together Botswana and South Africa’s finest entertainment industry facilitators to exchange notes on how to run their affairs successfully.

The workshop themed: Where to from here?, is organised by Dreamers Avenue with the aim to reflect on and analyse some of the challenges faced by artistes.

Some of the key panelists include South African member of Skwata Camp band Silkour and Sibu Mabena of Duma Collective, a marketing agency.

Botswana’s tested entertainment promoter Seabelo Modibe of Total Music Group and beauty queen cum business woman Malebogo Marumoagae would be among the speakers.

Marumoagae is the founder of Belle Larissa Company Belle Larissa, an award-winning company that assists individuals and corporations with entrepreneurial related matters.

In an interview on Tuesday, the workshop’s chief organiser, who is also the Creative Director at Dreamers Avenue, Ontiretse Tshiamo, alias Carnido, revealed that the workshop was open to all artistes from various creative entities across the country.

He stated that the challenges that became outward during COVID-19 revealed that artistes, regardless of the type of art they were involved in, needed to work collaboratively.

Carnido stated that challenges such as stagnantion, lack of exposure, failure to penetrate the market and others issues related to arts etiquette affected all artistes in the same way.

The organiser said the workshop would offer industry players an opportunity to dialogue, analyse and come up with collective solutions to the challenges.
He stated that the theme was chosen to encourage artistes to make efforts to explore other avenues that could lead to growth for their end products, both locally and globally.

“Most artistes have a tendency to limit themselves to means that are only within their reach, and the fear of taking a risk to explore other paths that could enhance our profession as artistes. The pandemic has also left us with a lesson to ponder, and pull strings together for the betterment of our profession, “he said.

Carnido explained that issues on the agenda would include efforts to encourage artistes to take advantage of existing market opportunities, creating diverse multiples of income streams, and the importance of packaging end products, among others.

Silkour, a seasoned rapper is expected to address issues of marketing and concept development, among others, while Marumoagae would focus on youth empowerment, gender equality, and entrepreneurial development.

She will also discuss etiquette tips for artistes in order to conduct themselves professionally.

He stated that Modibe, who is well-versed in entertainment industry dealings would share his experiences. This was to encourage artistes struggling to make a breakthrough not to despair despite the circumstance they encountered along their path. ENDS