What began as a cultural exchange idea before the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved into a privately driven arts initiative bringing international and local artists together through murals, training and creative collaboration in Maun.
Mason Lucky, co-owner of Mural Supply Co., said the initiative was born partly from his own experience of leaving Botswana for school in the United States and finding art as a way to reconnect with his home and culture.
“I missed my culture. I missed everything about Botswana,” Lucky said.
Having had no formal art education, Lucky said he turned to art and began creating work inspired by Botswana before becoming part of the American art community.
It was through that community that he met his business partner, Baby, with whom he later established Mural Supply Co., a business that supplies art materials, organises mural festivals and produces murals.
Lucky said the company’s work is centred on supporting artists and creating platforms through which they can develop and showcase their work.
“We want to take care of the artists and make sure that we amplify their voices and give them everything that they need, a platform that they need to succeed with that,” he said.
The initiative originally sought to establish a cultural exchange programme that would bring American artists to Botswana for workshops while taking Botswana artists to the United States for similar activities, culminating in exhibitions and festivals.
However, the programme was put on hold by COVID-19.
Lucky said the organisers subsequently changed their approach, establishing Mural Supply Co. and using its business activities to help finance the arts programme.
“We decided if we can’t go the non-profit route for it, let’s just work together and make the money to make it happen so that we can fund it ourselves,” he said.
The current programme consists of two major components — Visual Epiphany, an artist residency, and the Okavango Arts Exchange, a mural festival that brings international artists together with local creatives.
Lucky said Visual Epiphany is a three-week programme covering both artistic and business skills.
“They touch on everything from the fundamentals of art, entrepreneurship in art, how to create your business, how to file your taxes, all of those things, all the different tools,” he said.
The programme also provides practical exposure to paints and other materials, allowing participants to apply what they learn.
According to Lucky, 40 local creatives graduated from the latest three-week residency, with participants travelling from different parts of Botswana.
The graduates were then integrated into the Okavango Arts Exchange, where visiting artists were paired with local creatives to share mural techniques while learning from the local artists and their experiences.
The programme has received support from several organisations and businesses, including Aquarite, Natural Selection, Nhabe Museum, Love Botswana, Life Center, Bullenbush, Dusty Donkey, The Duck, Mark’s Eatery and Maun Educational Park.
Lucky said the National Arts Council provided an endorsement and helped publicise the event, while Love Botswana provided buildings, materials and equipment and hosted the initiative.
Meanwhile, visiting artist Pono Pinto said his participation in the exchange had given him renewed inspiration.
Pinto, who worked on murals at Life Center, Dusty Donkey and a power station, said wildlife and interactions with local people influenced his work after arriving in Botswana.
He said he initially painted a pink rhino before taking on the large Dusty Donkey wall, where the rough surface required assistance from volunteers.
Pinto said several volunteers, joined him during the painting process.
“I got to bounce around Maun a lot and meet a lot of people. I got a whole group of friends here now that I didn’t have before I came,” he said.
For Pinto, however, the biggest outcome of the exchange has been inspiration.
“I want to say that like the main thing that I received this trip to Botswana is inspiration,” he said.
He said the enthusiasm and appreciation shown by people in Maun had also influenced his perception of public art.
“I feel like in America or like in the States, it’s pretty common to see murals and stuff. And I feel like it’s almost not as appreciated as much as I felt it here,” Pinto said.
He said the experience had encouraged him to continue creating and seek out more artistic communities.
“It’s inspired me to just like create and keep it going,” he said.
For Lucky, the broader objective remains to support local creatives and provide them with opportunities to participate in the international arts community.
“Really our goal here is just to highlight and support local artists and also bring opportunity and a platform for them to be on a world stage,” he said.
The residency ultimately leaves in its place murals set in the life center, Maun Educational Park, Dusty Donkey and Maun Main Kgotla as the final mural installation. Bringing the town of Maun to a base where the narrative is starting to reflect a nuanced dance between the nature that leads to the Okavango Delta and art that colours the path to it.
