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state.gov/statemag
October 2012
state.gov/statemag
October 2012
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After her sculpture was selected for exhibition at the residence of
U.S. Ambassador to Botswana Michelle Gavin, Victoria “Tori” Greising
came to Botswana in February for a workshop with local artists and to
complete the installation. She thus became one of more than 100 artists
involved in overseas cultural exchanges on behalf of the Bureau of Over-
seas Buildings Operations’ Office of Art in Embassies (AIE).
“I was thrilled to be asked to participate,” she said.
At the four-day workshop at Gaborone’s Thapong Art Center facili-
tated by AIE and embassy Public Affairs Officer John Warner, Greising
taught the technique she employs in her ephemeral installations to 40
of the nation’s most renowned artists, designers and collectors, many
of them teachers, and some of whom traveled from the distant north
of the country. The workshop involved a melding of the minds, she
said, and was the first time many of participants encountered fabric as a
sculptural medium or the concept of impermanent art.
Greising said the lexicon of contemporary art, her milieu while
pursuing a master’s degree in fine arts (MFA) at American University
in Washington, D.C., had no equivalent in Gaborone. “Most people,”
she said, “were not satisfied when I said my work is rooted in a dialogue
about deconstruction and reconstruction of a universal material, with
concepts focused on temporality and formal decisions.”
Instead, she said, the core principles of her work, such as color and
line, became the bridge between her and workshop participants.
Her installation, a web of fabric, is also a commentary on the
connectedness and similarities of all people. “Everyone in the world
interacts with fabric,” she said. “Therefore, this material activates many
dialogues across geographical, cultural and socioeconomic boundaries.”
Workshop participants collected old clothing scraps and purchased
fabric from a local retailer. The variety of textures and colors allowed the
artists to explore the medium as thoroughly as an artist would use paint.
What evolved from the collaboration of an American with an MFA
and artists whose work is rooted in African practical artistic creativ-
ity was art in which two different approaches literally intertwined to
create a twist on Greising’s original idea for her fabric sculptures. The
participants created abstract artworks, incorporating a theme that would
influence Greising’s installation at the residence.
At the workshop’s end, seven participants helped Greising install her
piece at the residence, and Greising used what she learned during the
week to influence the installation.
“As with any installation, there is a certain amount of pre-
planning that has to happen, but the majority of the work happens
on-site,” she said.
Influenced by the creations of workshop participants and Ga-
borone’s cultural environment, Greising’s installation evokes the
presence of a tree.
“I wanted to create something slightly reminiscent of the shade trees
that are so beneficial during the hot months in the city,” she said. “I was
there at the end of January and noticed that during the afternoon, most
people can be found having tea under the shade of a tree. Activity stops
and rest takes over.”
Like a tree, her installation casts shadows, which she sees “as one of
the most important ways my installations interact with the space.”
Greising’s trip culminated in an opening reception for the exhibition
hosted by Ambassador Gavin for approximately 100 people from across
the city, including Americans, politicians, leaders of nonprofit groups
and other local residents. She also gave radio and television interviews.
Looking back on the highlights of her experience, Greising recalled
how, after the installation was complete, workshop participant Phil-
lip Segola, one of Botswana’s most renowned artists, wedged himself
between the piece and the wall, and commented, “Now look at this:
Magnificent!” She said this was the moment she “really felt as though
my art and practice were communicating outside of me.”
Aboard her flight out of the country, she opened the in-flight maga-
zine and found a three-page spread on Segola’s most recent retrospective.
Since her visit, University of Botswana art students have done their
own installation, which still stands, according to PAO Warner.
Ambassador Gavin said the installation at her residence is tremen-
dously popular with guests. Through Greising’s visit, she continued, AIE
“made it possible for us to reach a creative community that we had not
necessarily worked with before and gave us a new and engaging way to
expand our dialogues with the people of Botswana on two of our top
priorities—engaging with Botswana’s youth and supporting entrepre-
neurship and innovation.”
She said such programs continue to demonstrate effective ways
the United States can use art to connect with foreign audiences in
deep and relevant ways.
ExchangeBringsArtisttoBotswanaBy Tiffany Williams, intern, Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations
STATE.GOV/STATEMAG // STATE MAGAZINE 11
At the exhibition’s opening reception,
Greising meets Ambassador Gavin,
right, in front of her installation.
OBO photo

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