08 Jul 2019

The annual President’s Day Competitions are said to have become the pinnacle of heritage month.

Acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Peter Mongwaketse said the competitions were an opportunity for Batswana across the country to celebrate their creativity as artists. 

Officially opening the National Art, Basket and Craft Exhibition, he said the arts enhance cultural heritage and give communities opportunity to interact and learn more about each other.

Mongwaketse indicated that products at the national exhibition narrates Botswana’s development path.

He said artists’ creations reflects the time and environment within, which issues take place. 

“They speak to real life issues and address contemporary events around them combined with a reflection of who they are,” Mongwaketse said. 

He further indicated that the competitions theme, Creative Industries, a Vehicle for Sustainable Development, resonates well with the strategies that government was adopting towards economic diversification and sustainable development. 

Some of the UN General assembly Sustainable Development Goals calls for countries to find ways of addressing poverty alleviation, unemployment, gender equality and participation in development agenda by youth. 

Mongwaketse therefore said Botswana had adopted these goals given the challenges of unemployment especially the youth. 

He said the arts had great potential in addressing the economic gaps among the people of Botswana by creating employment for them all adding that government has appealed for partnership and collaborations from private sector to avail resources to provide capacity training.

He noted that with such partnerships, they could equip and empower artists by providing purpose build facilities, galleries and studios for professional management and delivery of art and craft. 

Since its inception in 2008, the competitions have shown growth in quality of submission of artworks across various categories. 

Mongwaketse said this now challenges the ministry to seek means and ways of exposing the country’s creativity in the international arena.

At the opening of the Comedy and Drama competitions, acting deputy permanent secretary for policy development and research, Peter Choto reiterated that the event had become a national event that brings the nation together in the spirit of competition and celebration. 

He said the competitions also had become a platform for showcasing the cultural diversity the country prides itself in, noting that the initiative was aimed at empowering local artists as well as ensuring that the arts become recognised as a sector that can become a source of livelihood to people and contribute meaningfully to the diversification of the country’s economy. ENDS