Living art

Botswana's artistic culture has flourished from time immemorial. The Kalahari is rich in the remains of tools and artefacts made thousands of years ago, as early as the Stone Age. The Tsodilo hills are covered with San paintings. The artistic tradition lives on in basketwork, pottery, weaving and art that flourishes today in many parts of the country.

Botswana has been rich in art, pottery and toolmaking since the Stone Age. The San hunter-gatherers lived in the Kalahari for at least 27,000 years, leaving traces of their occupation in bone and flint tools, and implements. Iron Age settlers arrived 1,200 years ago to mine minerals and smelt iron. These communities lived on ancient trade routes, which transferred goods and raw materials to and from Africa to the Middle East and Asia. Early glass trade beads from the Indian sub-continent have been found in the Kalahari alongside African artefacts.

The earliest rock paintings were probably painted in the Tsodilo hills at least 1,500 years ago. Some may have been even earlier. The painting by the ancestors of the San (bushmen) continued until comparatively recent times. Tsodilo consists of four main hills and recently was named as Botswana's first World Heritage site. More than 4,000 paintings have been discovered in over 350 sites now located along well-marked trails. The interested visitor needs to spend at least two nights at Tsodilo to see a fraction of them. There is also an Iron Age site dating back to about 750 AD, which reveals broken pottery, iron artefacts and Stone Age tools.

Some fish bones discovered at Tsodilo are estimated to date back 22,000 years. Rock art has also been found in other stone fringes of the Kalahari where a great super lake once filled central Botswana. There are many paintings in the rocky parts of the Savuti in the Chobe Game Reserve. Others have been found in the Lepokole hills near the Tuli block in the east.

The San revealed their deep magical and religious culture and beliefs in their paintings. They showed their animals and the way they hunted them. Today the San numbers have dwindled but they still use the craft skills passed down through generations in the handicrafts they make today. Ostrich egg necklaces, hunting weapons, leatherwork woodwork are still on sale today in many San settlements.

Batswana women who followed the San brought their own artistic culture that continues to modern times. The national museum in Gaborone shows contemporary art alongside the traditional art in the main museum. The National Art Gallery has regular exhibitions from up and coming Batswana artists, craftspeople and schoolchildren. The Bank of Botswana has a permanent exhibition of modern art.

Baskets, Pottery and Weaving
Botswana's handmade baskets are among the finest in Africa. They are practical, functional and creative. They are made from the fibrous shoots of the mokolane palm and boiled in natural earth-tone dyes. The designs are modern but use traditional African patterns and motifs. Baskets are made in many places including the Bokamoso Basket Cooperative at Shorobe, 26km out of Maun towards the Moremi Game Reserve. Shashe baskets are produced around Francistown.

There are several potteries that produce unusual and creative pottery. On the road to Lobatse is the Dinkgwana pottery where traditional potters are permanently at work moulding their grey-coloured clay from the local river and making their pots by the coil method gradually building the pot from its base.

Turning off at Mogoditshane road to the west of Gaborone is the Pelegano pottery at Gabane, part of a cultural project famous for producing its wares in rich glazes in traditional African colours. Further on, about 43km from Gaborone, is the Thamaga pottery, which sells modern and decorative utilitarian wares in African designs, at its shop.

North of Gaborone, just off the road to Francistown, is the village of Odi. There a Swedish couple trained the local people to spin, dye and weave and started the Odi Weavers, correctly known as the Lentswa la Odi Producers. It has since become a co-operative and has developed an international reputation for naïve tapestry, wall hangings and woven rugs. The artists benefit directly from the success of the enterprise. Visitors can tour the co-operative and watch the weavers at work producing tapestry that would be an asset in any modern home anywhere in the world.

A little further down the Francistown road is Mochudi where the Ituteng Tin Workshop produces bizarre modern artefacts such as mobiles, picture and mirror frames, and candle holders out of shiny tin.

Even further north from Gaborone are the Serowe woodcarvers, famous for their delicately carved wooden animals, bowls and spoons. The ornate, elaborately carved kgotla chairs (originally used at kgotla meetings) are also readily available in the locality.

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