http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?...ir=2012/May/Friday18


Hunter-turned-tanner thrives on game skins


CHIPPA LEGODIMO
Staff Writer


Many years ago, Fulten Akanyana would be excited at gunning down a big beast like an elephant during his many hunting expeditions.



He and his young friends would often go hunting for various types of wild animals like leopards and cheetahs. He was not a big fan of game meat but was just passionate about this hobby and never thought the skins from his kill could be turned into money-spinners. Today the 42-year-old from Gobojango in the Bobirwa area has ditched hunting for leather tanning. The father of five, who is a resident artist at Thapong Visual Arts Centre in Gaborone, is no longer interested in aiming his gun at game or arguing with friends on whose dogs can kill the most. When he sees a wild animal it is its skin that interests him. Akanyana is one of the few Batswana still using traditional methods for tanning skins and hides.

Since he started tanning leather 15 years ago, the dreadlocked man has become so accustomed to his job that he would often miss the smell of hides in his workshop whenever he is off-duty. "I never imagined that one day I would love working with leather so much that it would be difficult to separate me from its smell. Sometimes when I am home I would miss my workshop such that I would even just come and relax here. It has become part of my life and soul. Unlike in the past when I just wanted to kill wild animals they have now become so valuable to me because their hides feed my family," Akanayang told Arts & Culture. Akanyang used to stay in Ghanzi where wild animals are in abundance. After his hunting expeditions with friends they would donate hides to a certain old man in the area who tanned them to produce various articles. Then one day the old man offered to teach Akanyang "how it is done" and from then on he was hooked. Stacks of hides waiting to be processed inside Akanyang's workshop include those of lions, leopards, zebras, pythons and cheetahs. These smelly "unpolished diamonds" are bought from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks auction sales, according to the tanner.

"I never want to miss an opportunity to get these skins. I travel all around the country whenever I hear that there would be an auction sale by wildlife officials. There is no other way you can get a lion's or even a leopard's skin.

They are scarce which is why I prefer to stock pile them," he explained. Once processed the hides are cut into small pieces for various uses. Some are cut nicely and framed before they are sold while others are made into purses, clutch bags and belts. Akanyang lists a Zebra's skin as the most difficult to process but at the same time notes that it offers better quality than most. "The lion skin is also stubborn. The leopard skin is beautiful and brings in more business but it is just moderate to work with. On average it takes about seven days to finish tanning one large hide to the stage when it would be ready for use," Akanyang said. Though he acknowledged that skins from other animals such as impala, springbok and deer were also attractive and cheaper, Akanyang said that their products do not sell as fast as those of one of the "big five". "Most of my products are bought by foreign tourists and they seem less attracted to those skins. They are fascinated by those from zebra, leopard, lion and cheetah," he said. But it is not only hides and skins that Akanyang has turned into his source of income. To a visitor, some animal horns scattered in front of his workshop may look like litter awaiting collection but they are also as precious as gold to the dreadlocked artist. The horns are also processed into interior decorating items while some are made into 'vuvuzelas' which have become immensely popular among soccer fans, especially after the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals,which were held in South Africa.