I am the culture: Marebole

Lineo Malataliana
MASERU – Exploring and expanding the art landscape in Lesotho is a feat that Thabo “Mora Mobu” Marebole has undertaken fearlessly. The young art enthusiast, who is an established poet and is passionate about developing the arts in Lesotho, hosted his fourth annual poetry session at Maqalika last Saturday.
His passion for the arts has seen him collaborate with esteemed brands and even releasing some singles. Mora Mobu’s love for art has led to him birthing the Mora Mobu Poetry Sessions, a regular event in celebration of poetry through art across the board. Its premise is to showcase all forms of art, giving justice to this year’s theme “I am the culture”.
“We wanted to shine a spotlight on the unheard and unseen talent, again we had to find the balance between conscious and mainstream sounds to match our theme.”
In an interview, the poet said his intention is to bring all art forms into one place in the name of poetry. “When I had this vision it was a wild trial at getting poetry recognised beyond restaurants and coffee shops, to change the narrative that it is for intimate settings only.” According to Marebole, it is important to play an active role to ignite a steadfast flame in the arts as a whole, not just in poetry. He considers all art forms to be channels of energies that enhance growth, which is the basis through which his poetry sessions were brought to life.
At every edition of the event, Maqalika becomes the rendezvous of creative energies where the atmosphere is painted red with poetry, live music, fine art, photography and fashion. The patrons also bring their individuality to play. The state of arts in Lesotho is a cause of concern for Marebole and he believes that time has to be invested in appreciating all art movement across the country. In his view, the industry is still in its infancy.
“We are short of spaces and funds to showcase our work; we don’t have cinemas and channels for film-makers and no theatres for drama and poetry. We are also short of libraries and art galleries,” he said. The arts enthusiast is convicted that infrastructure needs to be developed to make it easy for outsiders to access their work. However, he said the future looks very promising, stating that they are going to unearth talent and get a chance to influence the way of life in communities around them through their craft.
These kind of sessions are a healing space as one gets to look at life through kindness, love, peace and gratitude. They serve as a place where creatives feel appreciated and are actually applauded for showing up in their true nature. The event has grown significantly from its first edition. It has been able to attract calibre attendees that have an admiration for the line-up. Marebole has high hopes that his sessions will soon attract patrons from other countries to savour their art.