Veryan Edwards

Résumé
Veryan Edwards has been living in Botswana since January 1980 and has had a studio in Gaborone since 1985. She was born in Hongkong in 1949 and spent her childhood travelling between China and the United Kingdom. Both her parents were British and on their retirement, the family lived in England for four and a half years when Veryan and her parents moved to South Africa. Veryan attended Rhodes University in Grahamstown, majoring in painting and History of Art. She went on to start a Master’s Degree in Fine Art at the University that was later completed while she was working as an art teacher in Johannesburg.

At first, Veryan worked with a friend at the St Ansgar’s Mission, Johannesburg, running a small art studio for children from Kagiso, a suburb of Soweto and producing and teaching pottery. She then worked for the African Music and Drama Association (AMDA) under Khabe Mngoma at Dorkay House. As Head of Art at AMDA, Veryan conducted classes for artists at Dorkay House and in Orlando West, Soweto and in Lenasia. She was later co-Director of AMDA and finally Director of AMDA for a couple of years. She then went to work as an art teacher at Redhill School, finally teaching all ages from kindergarten to Matriculation. In 1980, Veryan and her husband moved to the village of Kanye in Botswana and she concentrated on her studio work and a degree in Philosophy and Logic through the University of South Africa..

In March 1989, Veryan initiated the introduction of an international workshop to Botswana based on the model of the Triangle International Artists’ Workshop in New York, USA. Veryan produced the fundraising documents, set up contacts and gained the official support of the Botswana National Museum for the project, which has, however, remained independent of Government. A committee was set up through the Museum and a Trust was established so that a bank account could be opened. The first workshop took place in November 1989 in Kanye with artists from Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zaire, the United States and the United Kingdom. As coordinator and Chairperson, Veryan organised the funding, travel, venue, accommodation, materials and equipment, booked the final exhibition and transport of works. She continued to do this for all the subsequent workshops through to 1996 and the 2001 workshop, even if she did not take part personally.

In 1995, after an inspiring visit to Zambia, Veryan initiated the idea of starting a Visual Art Centre in Gaborone and led the search for a venue. The only place available that would not require funding in the millions was a unused and decayed old house and tiny ancient battle field, which is a National monument from the Boer War. The Thapong Visual Art Centre has been established there since 1999, starting with a portacabin and tents while the Old House was renovated. Veryan was the Director of the Visual Art Centre and Chairperson of the Trust from 1999 to January, 2003. In the process she has been involved in fundraising, setting up the physical requirements and systems for the office, daily management, overseeing between eight to ten local workshops a year, overseeing the building studios, the renovation (both structural and final) of the Old Fort House, the development of the space into a Gallery and office space and installing basic utilities on the property: water, power, and sewerage. She also initiated Residencies at the Visual Art Centre in 2002, helped establish the first magazine for the Arts in Botswana, called Artefacts and designed and runs the Thapong website.

In the process of doing this, Veryan has learned a great deal about the flexibility required in working with people, and has gained in expertise and experience in teamwork, management, staff training and the nurturing of skills in others. She feels that her greatest success has been in passing on the management of the Centre to others and see it continue to develop and grow. She remains as a Trustee on the Board and continues to do voluntary work on the monthly Bank reconciliation, as one the editors of Artefacts and as the webmaster/designer for the Thapong website. Over the years she has also become proficient in basic accounting, reporting and some computer programmes: (Microsoft: Excel, Word, Publisher, PowerPoint), digital photography, Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver.

Veryan has been exhibiting as an artist since 1979 in solo and group exhibitions (complete list appended) The highlights include shows with artists in Botswana for the Thapong International Artists’ Workshop, Botswana and shows with other workshops to which she was invited in Zambia, Namibia, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. She has also taken part in international workshops in Canada (Emma Lake), United Kingdom (Shave) and New York, USA (Triangle). She has taken part in many of the annual “Artists in Botswana” exhibitions in Gaborone and been part of travelling shows of Botswana art. In 1996, Veryan did a residency at the Delfina Artists’ Studio in London and held a small studio exhibition. In 2003, her work was part of a collective installation in Berlin and two works were selected for a group show “Abale” in Lusaka, Zambia. She has worked mainly in acrylics and oils in her painting and is exploring installation and mixed media as well.