Rock art
Botswana is home to one of the most precious rock art sites in the world. In the north-west of the country, in the Kalahari Desert, more than 4,500 cave paintings tell the story of 100,000 years of history. During this long period, the populations found refuge among the quartzite formations. The site of Tsodilo is not called the Louvre of the Desert without reason. It keeps engraved in the stone the trace of the evolution of the people. Paintings but also engravings or sculptures from the last century are juxtaposed with works estimated at twenty thousand years. The rock tells us about human activity but also about the evolution of the links between people and their environment. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, Tsodilo is still considered by the people of the region as a sacred place, inhabited by ancestral spirits. Thus, history continues to be written on these majestic walls
Alongside human figures, there is a preference for large game: giraffe, antelope, zebra, rhinoceros. These drawings cover a vast period and different styles are found side by side: mainly schematized line drawings, rarely polychrome and sometimes completed by abstract motifs
It should be noted that the Savute caves, east of the Okavango, reveal a similar style, in particular giraffes associated with linear motifs. Exchanges between the peoples probably took place, perhaps through rituals that incorporated the representations on the walls.
The rock art of Botswana has been known to the international community since the mid-19th century. Now it can also be admired in museums. On the Kalahari border, magnificent collections of rock art can be seen at the McGregor Museum in Kimberley and the Vryburg Museum.
The San people
On the whole, the rock art of Botswana is related to the religious practices of the San. However, the Bantu-speaking farmers seem to have used these artists to solve their problems, particularly agricultural problems such as drought. The wall paintings are likely to have continued to be used for ritual purposes for many generations.
Nevertheless, most of the paintings were left by the San, otherwise known as Bushmen, Bushmen or 'bushmen' by the Dutch settlers. These hunter-gatherers were among the first inhabitants of southern Africa. They arrived 45,000 years ago and migrated to the Kalahari Desert. Nowadays, they have become sedentary, living in a hostile land and under a no less inhospitable government. They have nevertheless left precious traces of the birth of humanity, in caves or in the open air. Painted or engraved, these representations have been preserved precisely because they are found in places that are difficult to access. Their paintings are invaluable for their artistic quality. They used three engraving techniques: staking, incising and scraping. Some researchers claim that these works had the power to put the shamans into a state of trance during rites. The animal representations would not be simple expressions of the need to eat but rather symbols. The antelope would be linked to the puberty of young girls and the moose to the spirits. On other walls, the paintings would be the representation of their visions, provoked by the ritual dances. This explains the presence of hybrid creatures, which would be no other than humans in the process of transformation.
Certain motifs, such as whales and penguins, suggest that they were in contact with other peoples.
The San also sometimes painted realistic everyday scenes, such as battles on horseback against settlers.
It can therefore be argued that the first artists in Botswana were the San. Furthermore, these masters of cave painting have always been skilled craftsmen, combining wood, leather and ostrich eggshells in their creations. Today, Bushmen painters have developed a distinctive artistic style. The colourful compositions, filled with human and animal figures, continue to evoke their strong relationship with nature. A gallery in the village of D'Kar, the Kuru Art Project, located about 30 km from Ghanzi, exhibits original contemporary works by this venerable people.An active scene
The Thapong Visual Arts Centre is a member-driven organisation based in Gaborone. Established in 1998, the centre is dedicated to promoting excellence in the visual arts. All talents, even the avant-garde, find their place in this space. The centre is outward-looking and encourages international exchange. In addition to its exhibition program, the Thapong Art Center invites international artists in residence. These artists complement their stay with workshops open to the public and an exhibition in collaboration with local artists.
The National Museum of Botswana is located in the centre of Gaborone. Since 1967, this multi-disciplinary museum has housed the National Art Gallery, the National Library, the Octagonal Gallery and the Botanical Garden with its sculptures. One can see realistic paintings showing scenes of everyday life alongside innovative productions. This place has the particularity of combining natural and cultural heritage. The museum is also involved in the preservation of the Tsodilo site. The museum has taken remarkable initiatives to reach out to rural populations, who are prevented from accessing culture by distance and dispersion. It is therefore the museum that reaches out to its public, both physically and through a magazine. The Zebra's Voice is widely distributed to organizations, schools and the public. The museum appeals to private funds through the humorously named "Adopt a Monument" campaign. The aim is to sensitize businesses and high net worth individuals to participate in the maintenance and preservation of Botswana's heritage
Other towns have their own arts promotion centres. The Kgosi Sechele I Museum, founded in 1902, not only celebrates the famous David Livingstone. Paintings and photographs of the Molepolole area and its people are also displayed in this refurbished police station. The Phuthadikobo Museum in Mochudi exhibits a collection of photographs of Bakgatla life by Isasac Schapera, Duggan Cronin and Sandy Grant, among a panorama of local crafts. To get acquainted with the culture of the Okavango region, the collection of the Nhabe Museum in Maun gathers paintings, crafts and photographs in a former British army outpost.
Street art
Compared to the western world, street art is slowly emerging in Botswana. Urban frescoes and graffiti are still a bit difficult to be accepted by the population. Moreover, it is forbidden to paint on private property. But public opinion is evolving at its own pace. The population is surprised to be reconciled with its districts through street art. For this, we must salute artists of all origins who criss-cross the continent and gradually spread the trend in Botswana. For example, the famous graffiti artist Jace, born in Le Havre but based in Reunion Island, has travelled the country with his spray paint cans and his yellow alter ego Gouzou, with his pudgy silhouette. In Gaborone, Gouzou rides an elephant on wheels on one side of a door, and on the other he clings to the hindquarters of a giraffe. Far from seeking realism, Jace paints Gouzou in situations that make passers-by and local residents smile.
Projects such as Arts for Change organise creative workshops for young people under the aegis of renowned guests such as Kid Kréol & Boogie, also from Reunion Island. These programmes aim to encourage the young generation to make good use of their creativity by embellishing their living spaces. In recent years, frescoes have been timidly appearing on neighbourhood walls. These pioneers are more likely to be found in Gaborone. Urban artists Archie Pielsticker and Laone Motseta have made it a way of life. In their shop near the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) office, they create stickers inspired by the tags and graffiti that adorn their premises. They are also tattoo artists and get a lot of orders to embellish the walls of the capital and the surrounding area. This energetic duo knows that they must gain credibility if they want to be recognized as artists. Their line of conduct? The main ambition of street art is to do good. It is not about promoting violence but, on the contrary, about helping people to feel happy in their city.Philippe Tallis, Botswana artist
Philippe Tallis was born in 1960 in Botswana to a French mother and an English father. From an early age, he was fascinated by animals, which became the main theme of his work. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he became a graphic designer but chose to devote himself to painting and then to sculpture. The country of his childhood marks the whole of his work. We find the lightning movement of the animal world, imperative to survival, or the red of the earth of Botswana. His dynamic brushstrokes reproduce ostriches, elephants, giraffes, pelicans and elephants on the alert. His theme naturally turns to dance, which leads him to perform in which he paints against the background of ballets choreographed by Maurice Béjart or Carolyn Carlson.
His work, awarded the Peace Trophy by the Gandhi Foundation, is exhibited worldwide
