Blessed! Exiting times are upon us!! Gaborone is being introduced to street art one tuckshop at a time in Old Naledi, and I couldn't be happier! Arts For Change and the Alliance Francaise of Gaborone teamed up to add some colour to the streets of Old Naledi with local artists Khwezi Mphatlalatsan', Okoth "Tek-One" Obado, Saone Batsile and international artists Kid Kreol and Boogie. Arts For Change is an initiative to empower youth to use their artistic talents as a means to develop their livelihoods. The day started out cloudy (always a blessing in an otherwise boiling city) at the Botswana Council of Churches Tsholofelong Project premises in Old Naledi where the artists finished off pieces from the previous session before continuing on to another part of Old Naledi to tag a new tuckshop. All the activity obviously garnered a lot of attention on the otherwise quiet streets an passers by, residents and neighbours couldn't help but investigate, slow their walk or even stop completely to watch the artworks grow across the walls. Graffiti has a very performative and transformative quality to it that makes watching the development of the art hypnotising. It's like the walls come to life, lines are born, grow, change, blend with other hues and tones, shapes are born and merge into faces, words and galaxies before your eyes. Blink and you miss the line by line changes. It was beautiful to watch and an honour to photograph.
I think that one thing that Botswana as a whole and Gaborone as a city lacks is a clear, contemporary urban identity. We do not know who we are as a city. Are we mellow? Are we Lil' Wayne incarnate? Are we Mojitos at sunset or a long, quiet walk at sunrise? Are we golden soaked or will we resign ourselves to a dusty brown? I want us to be more than the 'Parking-Lot Pimping' capital of Southern Africa. We are poets, painters and lovers. We are laughter, sunburnt and seeking shade. We are the horizon bouncing the sun up and down and I want our city to reflect that. I want huge murals, dust resistant installations, and Wonderland behind a magic door. I WANT FUCKING STREET SIGNS! I want our neighbourhoods to have names and colours that reflect their unique personalities. Why do our neighbourhoods sound like prison wards? What is Block 8 or Phase 2? I want us to find ourselves. I want my city to be a reflection of me. I want to be inspired. I want to be proud. I want Faith In My Jar. These artists gave me a glimpse of what Gabs could turn into and I WANT MORE!
I think that one thing that Botswana as a whole and Gaborone as a city lacks is a clear, contemporary urban identity. We do not know who we are as a city. Are we mellow? Are we Lil' Wayne incarnate? Are we Mojitos at sunset or a long, quiet walk at sunrise? Are we golden soaked or will we resign ourselves to a dusty brown? I want us to be more than the 'Parking-Lot Pimping' capital of Southern Africa. We are poets, painters and lovers. We are laughter, sunburnt and seeking shade. We are the horizon bouncing the sun up and down and I want our city to reflect that. I want huge murals, dust resistant installations, and Wonderland behind a magic door. I WANT FUCKING STREET SIGNS! I want our neighbourhoods to have names and colours that reflect their unique personalities. Why do our neighbourhoods sound like prison wards? What is Block 8 or Phase 2? I want us to find ourselves. I want my city to be a reflection of me. I want to be inspired. I want to be proud. I want Faith In My Jar. These artists gave me a glimpse of what Gabs could turn into and I WANT MORE!
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