The Visual Epiphany residency
Our two-week residency strand: a cohort of Botswana-based artists working alongside the visiting muralists, fully funded with all materials covered. Applications for 2026 are closed.
Dumela · welcome to Maun
OkavangoArts Exchange
Beautifying Maun, one wall at a time.
- 17 August – 12 September 2026
- Open Market Day Sat 12 Sept — RSVP
Panhandle
Who we are
Okavango Arts Exchange is produced by Mural Supply Co., with crews in Maun, Botswana and Austin, Texas. We create large-scale public art, cultural programming and community events in northern Botswana, because we want Maun celebrated and left more colourful than we found it.
01
Art, exchange & collaboration
Artists from Botswana, South Africa and the US, painting the same town.
02
Education & empowerment
A fully funded residency, mentorship from working artists, and all materials provided.
03
Community celebration
Open Market Day is for everyone, held in Boro, built with Maun.
- 19°59′S 23°25′E
- Maun, Ngamiland — gateway to the Okavango Delta
- Thamalakane
- The river through town, and the Old Bridge over it
- Maun Airport
- Where everyone arrives, ten minutes from the walls
- Boro village
- Where the festival lands, 11 & 12 September
Nxamaseri
The programme
Three weeks in Maun
A residency, a mural festival, an invitation-only conference and a public market day, back to back from mid August to mid September. Exact running times are still being finalised.
Mural festival
Local and international artists paint large-scale walls across Maun, in public, over the run of the festival.
Creative Conference
Mural site tours, a panel on monetising your talent and the Love Botswana mosaic unveiling. Invitation only.
Open Market Day
Live art, awards, performances, food, craft, fashion and games at Love Botswana in Boro. Open to all, RSVP required.
Rain falls in the Angolan highlands in January and takes months to push down the panhandle, so Maun sits at its wettest in the dry season. The programme runs on the tail of that pulse: peak season, peak footfall, the busiest weeks of the year for anyone with a name on a wall.
17 Aug
Residency opens
26 Aug
Walls go up
10 Sept
Final mural complete
12 Sept
Market day
Illustrative only · relative water at Maun, not measured data
Part of the programme
The Visual Epiphany
The Visual Epiphany is the residency strand of Okavango Arts Exchange — not a separate event. Over two weeks, 17 – 29 August 2026, a cohort of Botswana-based artists works alongside the visiting muralists with facilitators, mentorship and every material covered, then paints in public before the festival opens.
- Dates
- 17 – 29 August 2026
- Applications
- Closed for 2026 — list open
- Who
- Up-and-coming artists based in Botswana
- Cost
- Fully funded, materials included
Applications for the 2026 cohort are closed. We are still collecting names — leave your details and we will come to you first about the next intake and other paid mural work in Maun.
Maun reach
Featured artists
The 2026 lineup
Seven muralists, from Botswana to Texas to South Africa, painting walls across Maun between 26 August and 10 September.
Strange Harvest
Murray Cowan
Graffiti & public art
South Africa
@strangeharvest19
J Muzacz
Mosaic & education
Austin, Texas
@jmuzacz
Taylord
Taylor Barnes
Muralist
Austin, Texas
@taylordpaints
Pono
Pono Pinto
Muralist & painter
West Texas
@ponopinto
Floyd Mendoza
Doza
Muralist
Houston, Texas
@mendoza.creates
Sicko
Graffiti & public art
Botswana
@sicko_cup
Saone
Graffiti & public art
Botswana
@saonebatsile
Two day festival
The schedule
Everything lands at Love Botswana in Boro. Day one is the conference and mural tour, by invitation only. Day two is the public market, open to everyone with an RSVP.
Day one · Friday 11 Sept
Creative Conference
Mural site tours, a panel on monetising your talent and the Love Botswana mosaic unveiling. Invitation only.
Invite only · starts at 8:30. Full running order coming soon.
Day two · Saturday 12 Sept
Open Market Day
Live art, awards, performances, food, craft, fashion and games, open to everyone.
11:00 – 17:00
Thamalakane
Maun & the delta
Why here
Ngamiland is where the Kalahari meets the largest inland delta on earth. The festival is built on that: a town of guides, weavers, cattle herders and travellers, painted by artists from across the world and down the road.
Angolan highlands · January
The rain that never falls here
The flood that makes the Okavango is not Botswana rain. It falls a thousand kilometres north, then walks south down the panhandle for months.
Ngamiland · June
Water into sand
The delta never reaches the sea. It spreads across the Kalahari into channels, lagoons and palm islands until the sand and the sun take it back.
Maun · August
The town at the end of the water
Maun is Ngamiland's capital and the delta's front door: cattle country, safari country, a river through the middle of it and everyone passing through.
Where things happen
Arrivals
Maun Airport
Ten minutes from the first mural. Direct flights from Gaborone, Johannesburg and Kasane.
Mural trail
Town & the Old Bridge
Most walls sit between the mall, the riverfront and the Thamalakane crossing — walkable in a morning.
Local art
Nhabe Museum
Ngamiland's own gallery and the best place to see basketry and painting before the festival walls.
Conference & market
Love Botswana, Boro
Twelve kilometres out on the Boro road. Both public days, 11 & 12 September, happen here.
Boro floodplain
Attend & take part
Come to Boro
Both days are at Love Botswana in Boro, just outside Maun. Friday's Creative Conference is by invitation only. Saturday's Open Market Day is open to everyone — just RSVP so we can plan.
When
11 & 12 September 2026
Conference from 8:30, invite only. Market day 11:00 – 17:00.
Fly into Maun Airport, cross the Thamalakane at the Old Bridge and follow the Boro road out of town. Everything is within a short drive of the river.
Three ways to take part
Artists in Botswana
Applications for The Visual Epiphany residency, 17 – 29 August 2026, are closed. Leave your details and we will come to you first for the next round and for paid mural work.
Wall owners in Maun
Put a wall forward for the mural festival. We handle the artist, the paint and the permissions.
Sponsors & partners
Back the festival with funding, materials or time, in Botswana or from abroad.
Wall suggestions
Know a wall in Maun?
If you know a wall that deserves a mural, tell us where it is and who owns it. It takes a minute and it goes straight to our crew.
- Any wall in and around Maun
- Owner's blessing helps, but ask us if you're unsure
- We'll come back to you about site visits
Ways to get involved
Partner with us
Funding and partnerships are what make the festival possible. Every wall painted in Maun is someone backing the arts in the north.
Funding
Monetary sponsorship
- Art facilitators, materials and resident supplies
- Transport, accommodation, branding & marketing
- Entertainment, performers and vendor stalls
- Kids art section, crew and volunteer logistics
Resources
Donations | materials | cars
- Paints, art equipment, scaffolding
- Water, drinks, food and transport
- Bed nights, venues, staging & sound
In kind
Time | support | presence
- Volunteer on the ground during the festival
- Spread the word, engage and reshare
- Support workshops and community programming
Or email us directly at info@muralsupply.co
Partners & supporters
Made possible by
Okavango Arts Exchange is made in Maun with organisations who put their walls, rooms, time and people behind it.
Presented by
Programme & community
Want your name here? .