BUJUMBURA, February 7th (ABP) – The Gitega Secondary Technical School of Art (ETSA) is not enough on its own to provide a framework for Burundian artists, according to Gervais Nzitunga, a draughtsman who trained at the school, in an interview with ABP on Friday 31 January 2025.
According to Mr. Nzitunga, art is a talent that requires theoretical and academic training to understand its history and acquire different techniques. That enables artists to explain their art and develop it further.
Artist Nzitunga told ABP that there are many young artists in need of guidance in that field, and the only existing school does not have sufficient capacity to accommodate a large number of students.
He added that the ETSA is a state school, and to gain access to it, artists are referred by the state, taking into account a certain grade, which limits the number of talented young people who need access to that school.
Mr. Nzitunga recommended that the Burundian government create other art schools in different provinces to help Burundian artists develop their talents.
Mr. Nzitunga also pointed out that the school is not very well known, which means that due to a lack of information about it, artists move on to other fields and later regret it.
Nzitunga also sounded the alarm for the school’s support in terms of art materials, pointing out that those materials are expensive and that their lack handicaps the advanced training given at that school and prevents it from reaching the level of other regional and international art schools.