Live Painting Captures the Spirit of the World Athletics Relays 2026 in Gaborone
The final whistle blew on Sunday, signalling the close of three days of historic competition at the World Athletics Relays 2026 in Gaborone, Botswana. While athletes and spectators began to disperse, five selected artists remained in the stadium, putting the finishing touches on canvases that recorded the event in real time.
A First for Africa: The Relays Come to Botswana
Hosted for the first time on the African continent, the 2026 Relays delivered a series of record‑breaking performances. Notably, Botswana’s men’s 4×400 m team clinched a spectacular victory, marking the nation’s first gold in a World Athletics Relays final[1]. The event also featured world‑leading times in the mixed 4×400 m and several national records across sprint and distance disciplines.
Organisers emphasized that the competition was more than a series of races; it was a celebration of human movement, perseverance, and community. This philosophy set the stage for an innovative cultural programme: the Live Painting Experience.
Sport Meets Canvas: The Live Painting Experience
The Live Painting Experience invited five visual artists to observe the action from the stands and translate the energy of each race onto canvas as it unfolded. According to Gomolemo Kgosimodimo, one of the participating painters, the initiative was built around a simple premise:
“This whole idea revolved around the concept of sport and art. Sport meets art,” says Kgosimodimo. “So it was just about capturing the excitement, the energy, you know, the joy of the event.”
Live painting is recognised as a form of performance art where the act of creating the work is inseparable from the finished piece. As fellow artist Joe De explained, while smartphones freeze a moment with a click, the artists aimed to preserve it with brush, pigment, and deliberate gesture:
“Cameras and smartphones capture moments like this,” said De. “We capture it with brushes, canvas and paint.”
Artists in Motion: Technique and Perspective
Bezuba Kaunda highlighted the analytical side of the process, focusing on the biomechanics of the athletes:
“You capture the movement, its anatomy, you focus on the features, the fitness, the muscles, areas like that,” says Kaunda. “Get it right, then do the movement with the quick sketch.”
For Kaunda, the athletes themselves embody art:
“I believe athletes are artists, a different art form, because art is too much, it’s not just about drawing or doing. Running is also art, how you run is art, how you build your body is art.”
The Five Artists Behind the Canvases
- Gomolemo Kgosimodimo – Botswana‑based painter known for vibrant community murals.
- Joe De – South African multimedia artist specialising in performance‑based visual storytelling.
- Bezuba Kaunda – Zambian illustrator whose work often explores athleticism and the human form.
- Lerato Mpho – Emerging talent from Botswana, focusing on abstract expression of motion.
- Samuel Okoro – Nigerian painter with a background in sports portraiture.
Each artist brought a distinct perspective, yet all shared the goal of documenting the relay’s atmosphere through immediate, on‑site creation.
Why the Initiative Matters
Event organisers framed the Live Painting Experience as a method to “capture history through art.” By embedding artists within the spectator crowd, the programme ensured that the emotional highs, the collective breaths before a baton exchange, and the jubilant celebrations were recorded not only in data tables but also in tangible, human‑made artefacts.
The resulting paintings will be displayed at the Botswana National Museum and later toured to partner institutions across Africa, offering audiences a visual narrative that complements the official results and timelines[2]. This approach aligns with best practices in cultural heritage preservation, where multiple mediums—textual, photographic, and artistic—are used to create a richer, more accessible record of significant events.
References
- World Athletics. “World Athletics Relays 2026 – Gaborone Results.” Accessed November 2, 2025. https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-relays/2026/gaborone/results.
- Botswana Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture. “Live Painting Experience – Post‑Event Report.” 2026.
