Português
The Botswana Pavilion was formed in May 2019 by four Batswana students at the Michaelis School of Fine Art: LegakwanaLeo Makgekgenene, Kim Karabo Makin, Thebe Phetogo, and Thero Makepe. The core team expanded within the same year to include Botswana-based artist Sade Shoalane as a core member. Concerned with the country’s creative development and artistic archive and influenced by the lack of Tswana representation in the international arts arena, the collective’s name alludes to the Venice Biennale, where Botswana is yet to participate. This lack of Tswana representation in art locally and internationally has stirred within the collective a need to support and validate young creatives from Botswana, in hopes to give rise to a new national creative identity. In so doing, the collective aspires to take full advantage of their creative potential and opportunity – amidst Botswana’s arguably naive creative economy, to grow symbiotically with international art contemporaries. By creating a platform for international visibility and art exchange, they hope to inspire a sustainable creative industry locally.
