Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery

‘The subtly beautiful arts and crafts of Botswana deserve wider appreciation. This exhibition helps to bring to the attention of a wider public, the artistic achievements of one of the most interesting countries in Africa. I hope that you enjoy what is shown here.’

 Alexander McCall Smith

 Botswana boasts one of the richest artistic traditions – and one of the most vital contemporary art scenes - of all the countries in Africa. Its two principal strands are the Bushman artists of the Kalahari, and the tribal basket-weavers from the Okavango Delta and the Northwest of the country.
Rebecca Hossack, whose gallery has been exhibiting contemporary Bushman art for twenty years, together with Tanja Gertik – the art-advisor for Anglo American plc – made a recent field-trip across Botswana; the current exhibition at the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery brings together the rich collection of work that they gathered on their travels.
There are basketwork vessels created, by master-weavers such as Gabatsholwe Ntwe, from the fibre of the Ivory Palm, objects of austere beauty that, in the intricacy and symbolism of their designs, bridge all conventional divisions between craft and art.
There are paintings, linocuts and monotypes by some of the great figures of contemporary Bushman art, including Coex’ae Qgam (Dada), images of the natural world - and of the realities of twenty-first-century Bushman life - that carry something of the directness and truth that distinguishes the ancient Bushman cave-paintings of ten thousand years ago.
The exhibition is a celebration of Batswana art and craft in all its vitality and diversity.

The exhibition has been made possible with the assistance of Anglo American plc as part of the group’s continuing commitment to supporting communities in countries where it operates.

Contact Karen Benfield for more information at Karen@rebeccahossack.com