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ments and material crafts from wood, leather and ostrich eggshells. This fundamental
artistic aesthetic in the most utilitarian pots, fabrics, baskets and tools is one of Bot-
swana's (and Africa's) greatest artistic legacies. But the contemporary art scene in Bot-
swana is not confined to the material arts; there are also talented painters and sculptors
producing some dynamic modern artwork.
Architecture
Traditional Batswana architecture is compact and beautiful, and blends well with the land-
scape. A typical village would have been a large, sprawling and densely populated affair,
comprising hundreds of round mudbrick houses ( ntlo or rondavel ) topped with neat
thatched roofs of motshikiri (thatching grass).
The mud bricks used for construction are ideally made from the concrete-like earth of
the termite mound, and then plastered with a mixture of soil and cow dung. Often, the ex-
terior is then decorated with a paint made from a mixture of cow dung and different col-
oured soils. The paint is spread by hand using the unique lekgapho designs, which are
lovely and quite fanciful.
The thatch on the roofs is also an intricate business. Roof poles are taken from strong
solid trees, lashed together with flexible branches and covered with tightly packed grass.
When it's finished, the thatch is coated with oil and ash to discourage infestation by ter-
mites. Barring bad weather, a good thatching job can last five to 15 years and a rondavel
can last 30 years or more.
These days, cement is the building material of choice, so the traditional home with its
colourful designs may eventually die out. Decorated Homes in Botswana , by Sandy and
Elinah Grant, is an attempt to capture just some of the wonderful examples of traditional
architecture and promote the art of home decorating.
One interesting and accessible village where visitors can see traditional Botswanan ar-
chitecture is Mochudi, near Gaborone.
Traditional Arts & Crafts
Handwoven baskets and the traditional crafts of the San are the best of a fairly modest
collection of locally made traditional handicrafts. You will see some impressive wood-
carvings and textiles in Botswana, but very few are produced here - most come from West
Africa (Mali in particular) or the Democratic Republic of Congo. One exception is Oodi
Weavers, close to Gaborone.
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