TAYA attracts impressive response
Local visual artists, and students have responded positively to the annual Thapong Artist of the Year ( TAYA) and the BTC Telephone Directory competitions. The deadline for submission of entries for both competitions was the end of October, and an overwhelming number of entries have been received for both competitions.
Judging for the two competitions have been concluded and the winners will be unveiled soon. The announcement of the winners will be a virtual affair, and it will be streamed live on the BTC and the Thapong social media pages. BTC Foundation is the sponsors of both competitions. Other sponsors include the Ministry of Youth, Empowerment, Sport &
Culture Development as well as the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China.
The overall winner of ( TAYA) will walk away with P50 000 ( inclusive of an exchange programme, and the runner up will pocket P30 000. Winners will also be unveiled in three other categories pocketing P6000 each. Other winners will be unveiled in the Media category with a Reporter and a Photographer each taking home P5000.
Also running alongside ( TAYA) is the 2021 Phone Book cover competition. The winner will walk away with P50 000. Second and third place will attract a P25 000 & P15 000 prize money respectively. The theme for this competition is Turning a Global Challenge into local opportunities with BTC@ 40.
This competition is open to students at Junior and Senior School and to Botswana citizens only.
Reflecting on the number of entries, the Coordinator of Thapong, Reggie Bakwena shared that they have received an outstanding number of entries this year for both competitions despite the Covid- 19 and lockdown that negatively impacted on the economy and the lives of many Batswana including the local artists.
The Phonebook directory category received 161 entries while 107 entries were received for ( TAYA). The numbers, he explains show that there was a huge interest in both competitions.
“The numbers are great. And we are happy to see this level of commitment even with artists faced with various challenges such as lack of funds,” he says, noting that this is testament that artists take their craft seriously. He also says that this shows that artists are using art as therapy during the dark and tumultuous days that they might have faced.
However, something that continues to be a major problem is the low representation of women in the competition. He points out that once everything calms down, they would need to organise platforms such as exhibitions and workshops for women. “Hopefully, this will grow the number of women who participate in these competitions as well as the arts in general,” he notes.
Bakwena also shares that overall, he is impressed with the submitted works, and that he was genuinely surprised at the level of craftmanship displayed.
“This shows that they love what they are doing,” he says.
The judges, he explains, were also impressed with the work, but concerned at the level of women participation.
“Overall, they have submitted works that define self- identity, reflected on their lives and a sense of belonging. They have used different mediums including found objects and different materials which defined their characters and subject matters,” says Bakwena.