Why are we as Batswana, so unsupportive of our creative arts industry?
Why don't we as Batswana, truly stand by our creative art industry?
https://www.tiktok.com/@evodiahpule/video/7640681783918398738
listen to this before reading ahead.
I have just completed my IGCSEs and I want to enter a creative field, the minute I utter that sentence, I know the response I will get. "The market is non-existent" "This is not a real profession" "Just look at how the creative industry is suffering in this country" Each time that phrase echoes back, I have one question to ask: "Who is the responsible party here?". The creative art industry in this country is not struggling because the talent is absent but rather because we as a community have never truly had the will to fully back it. This post is here because, frankly, I am tired of seeing the cycle of stagnation continue before I even get the chance to even have a stake in it.
The first obvious thing to do so is financial, it occurs daily. One needs to have a poster designed, a flyer put together, a logo made up to for their events. There is a gifted local who needs that to pay their rent, purchase equipment and build on their skills. But instead, we take the cheapest route and have an AI design tool do the job for free or even pay a SUBSCRIPTION to get higher quality AI stuff. Let me just break down what happens when we do that. It's not saving money it is literally stealing from another person. You are stealing money from the pockets of another person who is only trying to create a life for themselves within the field. You are hindering the market that you claim you desire.
The system of supporting artists has been structured to look down upon most creatives. You are only recognized if you play football or you race a track, otherwise the government support and public adoration is minimal. Children who are incredibly gifted are given a certificate at a school prize giving and nothing more. No training, no developmental programs, nothing to elevate that natural talent to a professional level. Eventually they end up as grown ups with the SAME opinion on the non-existent market that we see being passed around.
The second thing, which I find much more challenging to admit is, you have a perfectly gifted Motswana, whose song doesn't seem to taste right with a lot of people, who is dismissed because "the production quality isn't there" and "it's not really my thing". However, with the same song the same production, same lyrics, same everything; package it with some South African origin and suddenly its all over the country. We watched it happen to William Last KRM, and Ezra Neethings. They were in our backyard working their sound and they wasn't appreciated by any extent, until, they was validated on foreign grounds. Then all of a sudden it was okay to say it was a "good tune". We cannot wait for the rest of the world to dictate our opinions on quality. Mind you, I personally, believed in Ezra from the beginning, having been in the same church as him back when ECG was still a church in Botswana, so I know how far he's come.
The nature of the social media landscape around the creative industry also really hits me, especially coming from a place of about to enter the scene. When you as a creator are striving, giving your all to create something from scratch; the silence from community is overwhelming. Not a share, a comment, a word of encouragement, no DMs from the public showing love. But the minute you mess up, the minute there is a scandal in the public eye, everyone gets online in seconds to give their two thebe on your downfall and that tells you all you need to know, it essentially tells future creators "Try, and when you fall everyone is here to stomp on you for a bit of social media traction kana to feel important for bringing you down." I have a YouTube channel with just about 1,115 subscribers and only about 0.8% of my total demographic ke Batswana, which shouldn't really be the case.
The problem with failure isn't necessarily a bad thing, it is literally how we grow. Every artist, designer, musicians etcetera who's name you can mention that has done something worth while has spent a good chunk of their career failing, producing something that they probably would not even want to be associated with later. Failure is not weakness it is the learning curve. The real distinction between communities with a flourishing creative scene and communities without one is not their talent, it is how the people surrounding them view failure and support their creatives.
Last thing, we spent years clowning on Botswana music and shows that used to air on BTV every chance we got, unfortunately and I'll admit I used to do that too, but fast forward to today, we miss such times and even get nostalgic over something we didn't like, but grew to appreciate after a while.
I genuinely believe Botswana has everything needed to have an exceptional creative arts industry recognized worldwide. We have always had the talent, the thing that is lacking is a community which can appreciate, patronize, support and provide room for creatives to be bold and make their own errors instead of judging them on their mistakes. Listen, as an artist, creating music and content in the country, I'd be proud of this country, if the same people I'm proud to be a part of, supported me.
Is this status quo something we must accept?