Making beautiful art against all odds

 

From a young age, Wilson Libita enjoyed drawing with pencils. His favourite artworks were those of people’s potraits. As Wilson grew older, his love for art was overshadowed by other faculties of life. As a child who loved drawing in the dusty streets of Parakarungu in the Chobe region, Wilson never knew the obstacles he would have to overcome to continue to put paint on canvases. His story embedded in the familiar Tswana value of hard work.

The 40-year-old Motswana’s journey began in the Parakarungu and has now branched out to Ontario as he now lives in Canada with his family.

Libita recently opened up to Vibe about how he began to create art again after years of inaction. Fate drew Libita back into the art scene in the most unlikely manner as he now creates visual art with his mouth.

Libita is a self-taught mouth painting artist. He explained that he sustained a spinal cord injury that left him paralysed from chest down leaving him with limited hand movement. “It started last October as a joke, something to pass time with but after posting my work on the internet people fell in love with my work and encouraged me to pursue it more.'

He said that the positive reception that people have given him online have pushed him to continue to create art.