‘Gatwe erile’ first edition, lit!

The first ‘Mainane-Gatwe Erile’ session held recently enthused attendees at Thapong Visual Arts. It is meant to revive folklore tradition and share it with especially those who are not familiar with it.

This event was meant to also introduce childrento elements of Setswana arts and culture. ESTeRES Agency hosted this event after its Founder and Director, Mitchelle Phetlhe noticed a gap.

“I have observed that most children might not be in touch with this tradition so we wanted to teach them, while also passing on mainane (folklore) to them,” she said.

Adults graced the event as well, joining in the fun, reminding themselves of the stories and childhood games they forgot how to play.

To make the event even more interesting, esteemed authors, Dr Nankie Ramabu, Emmanuel Boefelo and Edwin Moroka narrated mainane and captivated everyone. Thuli Phetlhe translated these interesting mainane to English, ensuring that everyone in attendance appreciated the stories and understood the messages.

Mitchelle emphasised that they had amazing partners who were grateful for their shared vision.

They included Tefo Paya and his team from Top Art who brought Dance, Music, Games, Sing Alongs all with an unmatched energy.

Raluhk Woods set out and gave tutorials on board games including; Mhele and Morabaraba which he custom makes, these were enjoyed by first time players, as well as those who felt they were experts as they sat and challenged each other. Other traditional games; Koi, Seif and Puzzles were also available with a huge jump castle from “Party made Easy” and a Rabbit petting corner by Gabs Urban Rabbit Hole, which was the most favorite to the kids.

Many mainane feature ‘mmutle’ as the clever rabbit, and so the corner was enjoyed by many.

Market potential ventures made the event an amazing first and successful show with their top class sound equipment, while CXD captured all the magical moments.

The next session of Gatwe-Erile is on cards and Mitchelle noted that they will have different activities to ensure that they give a different experience to the attendees each time they attend.

“We can confirm that there are a number of fresh ideas, and we want this event to expose children to our tradition of mainane,” said Mitchelle.