ANNUAL PRESIDENTIAL ARTS COMPETITIONS TRANSFORM

Forthe second year in a row, there will be no Presidents Day Arts Competitions. The Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development will instead embark on an ambitious Cross Country Recordings Extravaganza.

The project will involve recording of various genres of artistic performances across the length and breadth of the country. The recordings will broadcast on Btv and Now! Channels.

In total, 20 130 artists will benefit from this project. The development was unveiled by Minister Tumiso Rakgare on Tuesday last week.

Speaking during the media briefing, Rakgare highlighted that genres that will be covered will include Dances, inclusive of Traditional song and dance, Pantsula, Polka, Dikopelo, Choral music, theatre, poetry, contemporary music, traditional instruments such as Ditlhaka tsa ga Malete le Tlokweng. Service providers for the project will include Film and Television companies, sound, stage and logistics coordinators, says the Minister. Detailing how the initiative will run, he shared that it will be rolled out in two phases.

“All participating practitioners will be renumerated with a performance fee in line with MYSC fee structure. An estimated BWP 27, 890, 880.00 will be spent on artists performance fees. The first phase, running between June and July 2021 will be aired on Btv and Now Channel during the month of July 2021,” explains the Minister.

The second phase, he said, will run between July - August, and will be aired in September 2021. These recordings, he said, will be followed by Visual Art Exhibitions across the country, as well as Pop- up Fashion Show sessions and Murals in selected areas, he said. He also shared that his Ministry is working hard to ensure that arts associations are brought closer as partners and key stakeholders in the development of the industry. “Arts associations and their members will work with MYSC officers in the district to participate in the recordings as performers and service providers,” he said.

He further said that these relief efforts and determination to put money into artists’ pockets are further achieved through strategic partnerships. This year, he divulged that they will be supporting activities that include Botswana Musicians Union, Yarona FM Awards, and Miss Botswana.

“Details of the exact financial commitments are still to be shared with the various stakeholders,” said the Minister. Reached for a comment about this development, the President of Botswana Promoters Association ( BEPA), Gilbert Seagile, expressed his disappointment at how it appeared that the Promoters are side lined. He said that they are aware of the number of artists who will benefit, and wanted to know what happens to the Promoters. “We are disappointed about this development if it happens that the promoters are not going to benefit,” he said. He further said that they might as well hold their breath and hope that the Creative industry will be opened up soon, so that they can start to resuscitate the little that is left of their careers. What he said was troubling was the lack of information on whether they will be engaged in putting together these recordings. “This industry will never develop if MYSC does not repent.

Artists are taken as orphans, and this thing has been going on for years,” he said. He also shared that they were working on a document about Safe opening of the industry to be submitted soon to the relevant offices. As it is, he said that there were many promoters and players in the industry who were hungry. Some, he shared had even resorted to selling their equipment as they have been caught in the ‘ matter between’ court summons. “When the industry opens, we are going to be capitalist because we are hungry,” said Seagile.

Another promoter, David Letshwiti was also unhappy about this development. He shared that last year when MYSC was doing the Putting Money into the artists initiative that ran from July to December 2020, only six promoters had been engaged. He also said that when artists were paid P20 000, promoters walked away with P10 000. He further said that there is no program that speaks to the needs of his peers. The organiser of the African Attire on Fleek event, said that for some of them they had events that were on hold, and have as a result, incurred costs.

“What they should be doing right now is coming up with ways of assisting us,” he said adding that promoters have been going back and forth to the Ministry engaging them to see how they can fix the industry. Meanwhile, he called on local artists to start developing concepts now, in order to position themselves for a period when the industry will open up.