A WOMAN OF MANY FIRSTS: Amantle Montsho

In 2010 Botswana won her first Gold medal at the Commonwealth games, today we - royal we- won our first gold medal at the World Championships. Amantle Montsho who won both these medals was also the first Motswana woman to compete in the Olympics. Today she won the 400m in a national record time of 49.56 seconds, right behind her was 200m three-time champion Allyson Felix (America) with a 49.59 finish, Russia's Anastasiya Kapachinskaya came in third in 50.24 seconds.

Facebook (on the Botswana end) is going crazy with congratulatory status updates and postings of various videos.

Twenty eight year old Amantle hails from the village of Mabudutsa, although her athleticism was nurtured while she was a student in Maun. She has come a long way since then, winning along the way - The Botswana National Sports Council's Sportswoman of the year and Sportsperson of the year. She trains at the High Performance Training Center in Dakar, Senegal.

Well done Amantle, we are all very proud.

BOOM BARGAIN BUST

Once in a while the city of Gaborone shakes the dust off her pretty feet, startling her dancing rattles (matlhoa) into a staccatto whisper, she crawls up from under her own weight and yells "le rona re teng ka kwano".

On Saturday afternoon I attended a Writing Association of Botswana short story workshop by Wame Molefhe you can read about it here. We had lots of fun working our way enthusiastically through the practical execises before some of us shyly read the results out loud, and then this evening another treat. Maru A Pula art teacher and renowned artist Steve Jobson, and live performance artist Moratiwa Molema who is also a member of the Artfunctionz crew alongside Monsieur Polk and The Unseen DJ hosted an open multimedia performance at the Thapong Visual Arts Center.

Titled Bargain Boom Bust it is based very loosely on English artist William Hogarth's A Rake's progress - a series of eight paintings depicting 'the decline and fall of Tom Rakewell the spendthrift son and heir of a rich merchant, who comes to London, wastes all his money on luxurious living, prostitution and gambling, and as a consequence is imprisoned in the Fleet Prison and ultimately Bedlam'(wikipedia). All, most, some of this is translated into an organic fusion of dance, poetry, installation art, music, sound, projection and light in a very engaging and individualistic manner. Its not a wholly cohesive project but I think that was either deliberate or was a natural outcome of the working process. Artists all wrote or choreographed their own material which was then linked into a sequence of sorts. Other than the great craftsmanship exhibited by whoever penciled/charcoaled the figures projected onto white sheets (I suspect its Jobson) my favouite scene has to be the silhouette striptease-dance because it was ever so cleverly done, with none of the too-muchness that an outright undressing in the open might have held for some folks.

Jobson says this production has ambitions to grow within and beyond Botswana's borders by involving additional local and international artists. The closing video clip was sent in from outside the country by Friedeman Luka and though not integrated fully into the production speaks to that process having already begun.

The cast boasts of both well established creatives and promising young talent; Moratiwa Molema, Karabo Maselela, Sibongile Phiri, JB, B Note, Bundu Lama and off 'screen' Kgotla Ntsima, Steve Jobson, Inga Ritter, Andrija Klaric, Vivek Kamokar as well as Nikola Gaytanjie.

Although the event was held at Thapong, Maitisong provided technical assistance in support of the production. Let us hope this is only the beginning. I will put up some photographs of tonight's contemporary interpretation of 18th century sequential art when I can get them, I think they'll show a better story than I could ever tell. Goodnight world

WHEN EVERYONE ELSE IS ASLEEP: an encounter with José Luís Peixoto in Botswana

'To write is to organise ideas...something that by itself isn't necessarily organised,' José Luís Peixoto.

'José Luís Peixoto is Portugal's most acclaimed, prize winning young novelist,' this is the first line in a write up Sandra Pires from the Instituto Camoes Lectureship at University of Botswana passes around as the author introduces himself.

Born in a small village off Portugal's southern interior in 1974 (a few months after the carnation revolution that put an end to authoritian dictatorship) José finds himself, sense of humour intact, in a University of Botswana faculty of humanities committee room after a hectic flight. There are 12 folks ranging from UB lecturers Tiro Sebina, Mary Lederer & Leloba Molema as well as Lapologa editor Ngozi Chukura to a few faces that bear the telltale signs of a just beginning foray into study. We may be few but he is charming and comfortable in the role of visiting author, as he should be with his first novel accepted for publication at age 25 having since been translated into more than 20 languages. He has written broadly across various genres from music lyrics to novels sometimes fusing autobiography with fiction, theatre play with poetry.

We speak about everything from translation "I leave it to other people its not my responsibility," he says with a smile - to the importance of not just reading but listening as one way that feeds writing. Upon request he reads excerpts from the closing chapters of three books, the poet in him boldly jumps out from beneath each breath held between the narrative. Even though he says he now writes more prose than poetry methinks that is a calling the Gods never take back.

We find out mid conversation that a street, actually the street where he was born and where his mother still lives was recently named after him - and how his amused (and no doubt proud) mother receives mail with her son's name as part of her address.

Having never been there I'm in love with the idea of all things Portoguese; the food, the whitewashed walls, I even dabbled in learning the language so I could better understand one visiting capoeira* instructor's attempts at making me a capoerista, I envy her lengthy coastline and now, her poetry or for now at least the sound of it.

He may very well be a prize winning novelist but I think he is a storyteller first, mediums are just that, a way to translate our experience or perception to the page or the stage. Please visit wikipedia/Peixoto for a bit more on the man and his work. While in Botswana José will run a creative writing workshop before heading to Namibia and South Africa.


*An Afro-Brazilian dance martial arts