Neo Matome

Neo Matome is a Motswana artist (b.1967, Johannesburg, South Africa). Neo works in various media, which include drawing, painting, installation and photography. She also incorporates the use of textiles in her practice.

Gender, culture and socio‐political issues inform her expression. Identity, belonging, parity and issues of equity – be it to land, education, health, economic or social opportunity are issues she addresses in her artworks but mainly from a gender perspective. She is interested in the intersection between culture, perception and power relations.

Neo has won prizes, with the most recent one being the prestigious 2024 National Arts Festival Best in Mentorship Award (Visual Arts) at the Gaborone International Conference Centre, awarded by the His Excellency the President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi. Neo has participated in national, regional and international exhibitions including art workshops in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Mozambique and a residency at the Vermont Studio Centre, Johnson, Vermont, USA, with her artworks represented in private and public collections locally and abroad. She is also an arts activist who has served in various roles to promote the visual arts in Botswana.

Ms. Matome is one of Botswana’s key proponents in the official establishment of a formal Creative Industry economic segment of government, and a key contributor to the emerging contemporary art scene in Botswana since the mid-90’s.