Visual artist starts Arts college
While the way to survival for many visual artists is through creating stock and establishing a rich catalogue of artwork for sale, Goabaone Mogwe has embarked on a journey with far-reaching upshots. The economic realities of Botswana mean that most “artists” are in fact craftspersons who make small sculptural pieces, landscape paintings, and craft items for the tourist trade.
However, in order to try and change that narrative and revolutionise the arts industry, talented visual artist Mogwe has set up an art school called Africa Art College to train and groom artists in the country. According to Mogwe, Africa Art College aspires to be an art hub for the African continent, turning art into a lucrative career and producing globally competitive graduates. He told Arts & Culture that the institution will receive its first intake early 2023.
“As it is, we are still finalising everything. We were still looking for space but I’m happy that things are looking up. At the moment, I have Sunday
classes where we continue to offer lessons to individuals at a reasonable rate,” said Mogwe. The 33-year-old also said Africa Art College’s intention is to produce globally competitive artists who are groomed with an arsenal of attributes such as entrepreneurial skills, computer skills, artistic skills and overall artistic confidence. With many of his peers battling to find employment, Mogwe is carving his own path, which also translates into enriching others as well. Mogwe has a BSC (Hons) Applied Business Computing from the University of Sunderland, Postgraduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship by Wadhwani Foundation in India. He is currently studying for his MSc Computer Science from the University of London. As someone who has attained this level of education, he believes that by grooming artists, he will in a way, end the stereotype associated with the arts.
“In most cases, because of the stereotype, artists don’t dictate the price of their artworks. But I want that to change. People should know that art is commercial,” he said.
Mogwe, who is a member of Thapong Visual Arts Centre, said he wants to demonstrate the potential for art and the role it can play in the social, economic and cultural development of the country. Africa Art College will offer courses such as BA (Hons) Fine Art, BA (Hons) Animation and BA (Hons) Storytelling.
He said the BA (Hons) Fine Art will cover a range of studies, including but not limited to drawing, painting and illustrations. He explained that the BA (Hons) Animation is a practice-led course, under which artists will learn principles of animation such as animation basics. The course will introduce one to Timing, Spacing and Squash & Stretch, which are paramount concepts of animation.
“Learning animation with us helps to turn one into an overall artist by teaching anatomy, world building, story boarding and much more within the discipline of animation,” he added.
He stated that they are still on the programme approval for BA (Hons) Storytelling. Mogwe said while the local arts have evolved over time, there is a need to focus on the development of local crafts for a global market.
Mogwe said he was recently invited alongside other local artists by the University of South Africa, known colloquially as UNISA to showcase their products, which also offered him an opportunity to sell his idea.