Re Bataki training empowers 12 artists and crafters
FRANCISTOWN: Re Bataki organisation, in collaboration with the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA), have empowered 12 local visual artist and crafters on cultural heritage tourism value chain. The five-day training, which ended last weekend, was held under the topic, ‘Crafting our heritage: Enhancing product creativity through story telling’.
It was moderated by Theatre for Development Botswana. The moderator from Theatre for Development Botswana, Moemedi Makhurutha, told Arts & Culture that the workshop was designed to encourage artists and crafters to take a critical look at how they can position themselves within the tourism value chain by creating products that tell unique stories inspired by their surroundings. He also said by developing new skills and crafting relevant stories about their history, customs, traditions and daily lives, artists and crafters stand a better chance to create and sell products that resonate well with their target markets.
Makhurutha said the 12 participants were handpicked from Francistown and other villages in North East district to participate in an inclusive workshop designed to bring together traditional and contemporary practice to produce new products. During the workshop, the visual artists and crafters were encouraged to think outside their comfort zones and work in collaborations to come up with new products. The idea, he said, was for the participants to enhance their creativity by sharing experiences, techniques and processes with other creatives in order to tell the stories that make their communities, traditions and cultural practices. He said they have collaborated with regional museums, community based organisations and other stakeholders within the local tourism industry for the projects. “The aim is to elevate the role of arts and crafts and promote cultural heritage tourism within communities,” he said.
Makhurutha shared that after the workshop, the participants are going to collaborate and come up with unique products. “The products will be showcased at an art exhibition, which will feature other collaborations from visual artists and crafters who participated in the same training from across the country,” he added. The Re Bataki art exhibition will be held in Gaborone at the end of October.