01 Dec 2022

Visual artist, Ronald Kegomoditswe aka RonDeArtist, in collaboration with Tamsil Designs, recently conducted art and fashion exhibition dubbed Gifted at Art Case Gallery.

The exhibition featured RonDeArtist mixed media and acrylic work as well as a few dresses from Tamsil designs.  

“We wanted to come up with something that has never been done locally and I also painted some of the dress designs,” said RonDeArtist.

 He said ideally they had wished to include a runway with models to make it more interesting, however he said time was not on their side.

Growing up in Selebi Phikwe, the environment and everyday life activities such as reading inspired his creations.

“My work is an expression of how I see life in general,” he said.

 Some of the art pieces shown included nude pieces, wildlife and portraits.

He said art was a way of communication for him being not gifted in writing or speaking.

“For me this is a universal language which I can use to communicate with the rest of the world,” he said.

RonDeArtist said he yearned to see the visual art space in Botswana appreciated first by locals as it was important for them as artists.

He said art played a significant role in their overall state well-being as creatives.

The artist also said Botswana should use art to market the country and contribute to the economic growth of the country.

“The growth of our economy should not only be based on academic abilities and prowess in sport, the creative space is also an entity which can profile our country to revenue stardom,” RonDeArtist noted.

Furthermore, he encouraged other artistes to work on their artistic and business skills and empower themselves to avoid being easy preys to exploitation.

 He said it was important to engage on raising awareness as the creatives and taught people about the importance of their work to see value in what they did, therefore be able to pay them accordingly and not exploit them.  ENDS