Veryan Edwards
Veryan Edwards (b. 1949 in Hong Kong) lives in Gaborone, Botswana. She holds a Master’s Degree in Fine Art from Rhodes University, South Africa.
Edwards has been exhibiting her artwork since 1979 across Africa, U.S.A., and Europe. These include group shows and Triangle workshop exhibitions in New York (Triangle), UK (Shave), South Africa (Thupelo, 2010), Kenya (Ngoma), Namibia (Tulipamwe) Zimbabwe (Pachipamwe), and Zambia (Mbile).
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. 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 workshops.
In 1995, after an inspiring visit to Zambia, Veryan initiated the idea of starting a Visual Art Centre in Gaborone, a first of its kind in Botswana, akin to the Bag Factory in Johannesburg. The Thapong Visual Art Centre was established in 1999, with Edwards as the Director of the Visual Art Centre and Chairperson of the Thapong Visual Art CentreTrust from 1999 to January, 2003.
Veryan’s work ranges in genres and mediums. In describing her work, Edwards notes, “Life seems to be a continual investigation of reality and my reading includes lay-person’s quantum physics, art and spiritual texts. This informs my work as does the vastness and beauty of the Kalahari. I like works with ambiguity of space and it can be either completely abstract or semi-figurative. I believe that the viewer brings to the work his/her own concerns and perceptions, and so completes the meaning.”
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