Signature Art Exhibition targets countrywide tour
After a successful art exhibition in Gaborone in April, curator of Signature Art Exhibition, Thabo Kgatlhwane has revealed that they have decided to take the event countrywide. The art exhibition is currently running at Nhabe Museum Art gallery in Maun. Their next stop will be Francistown.
“Because of the amazing response we got from the Gaborone one, I could that tell people were craving to see beauty especially because of the current global crisis. And it’s not every Motswana who can go to Gaborone to see art so we decided to take the art to them,” Kgatlhwane told Arts & Culture in an interview this week.
The first exhibition in Gaborone combined five distinctive styles from local artists being Totang Motoloki, Tshediso Kedumetse, Mpho Kgopiso, Moleboge Mokgosi and Loretta Mekgwe. Kgatlhwane said with the exhibition currently open at Nhabe Museum until August 28, they had to replace some artists because of either financial or personal reasons. Only one artist ,Mokgosi has been dropped and they added Tebogo Gaotshabege and Emafa William.
Kgatlhwane said the response has been positive even though not a lot of sales are being made. “Appreciation of the arts is one of our main concerns and that is bearing a lot of fruits. Batswana are getting to see
how creative our fellow countrymen are so that will do for now. They must understand that in order for this to keep happening purchasing art and supporting artists should come hand in hand with their ‘wow go gontle jang’ compliments,” he highlighted. Since the exhibition is a moving and changing event, Kgatlhwane said art pieces that were sold in Gaborone were replaced with other pieces. Kgatlhwane, who is the director of an artist management agency, Cellar Door Arts, also admitted that planning any event in a pandemic is hard but with the right motivation, a lot
of passion and hard work they were able to make it a success. “We still don’t have sponsors. Everything from travel expenses to the actual hanging of the art pieces was taken care of by me and some of the artists involved which is why we’re hoping to make some sales so we at least get a bit of our investments back,” he added. According to Kgatlhwane, Signature is a theme that caters to the essence of the artist because every creative has their signature style for the specific way they mix their colours. He said each artist has a certain way they express themselves so it was the perfect theme.