By DAILY NEWS Reporter, 17th July 2011 @ 12:00, Total Comments: 0, Hits: 93
Visual artists challenged to educate society - Press : Daily News
DOMESTIC visual artists have been urged to effectively use their profession in spreading educative messages in the society.
A member of the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy in Tanzania, Roberto Quiroz II, said recently that the artists could win much support from the society via better use of their profession.
Quiroz II awarded certificates to participants of a recent four-day visual arts course, which was organized by the embassy, with a view to upgrading domestic visual artists’ efficiency.
He said the society is the intended consumer of the artists’ products, thus, there should be strong bond between the two.
Quiroz added that there are several issues facing the society in various areas including environment, health and economy, thus, the artists could present their messages on the mentioned items.
“The US Embassy believes that the society can easily get the messages and learn from visual arts,” he said.
The course’s instructor, Martin Naggy, said the domestic visual artists have enormous talent but most of them lack marketing skills.
He said he had trained the artists on how to secure customers, preserve their works, as well as setting up progressive strategies for securing market for their works.
The National Arts Council (BASATA) Secretary General, Gonche Materego, who attended the event, insisted on the need for the artists to develop a formal network and effectively use it to develop their careers.
Forty seven Dar es Salaam-based artists participated in the course, which was preceded by another course involving artists from Tanga held from July 4-8. Zanzibar visual artists will be the next recipient of the course, which will be held from today to Friday.
The Dar es Salaam artists also used the same opportunity to form an interim committee, in which Moses Luhanga was elected Chairman while Kiago Kilonzo was the Secretary as Shama Jaffer and Fred Halla took the Treasurer and Information Officers posts respectively.
