Eleven Namibian artists will from 9 March showcase their artwork at the Arts Association for Visual Arts gallery in Cape Town, South Africa.
Titled ‘unmourned bodies’, this landmark exhibition pays homage to the historical links between the Namibian Arts Association (NAA) and the Arts Association for Visual Arts (AVA).
The aim is to seek to redress the colonial presentation of Namibian cultural productions through inclusion, and to highlight the contemporary blurring of art and crafts. It was conceptualised and proposed by artist and curator Jo Rogge to the AVA in response to their Conscious Curating programme.
Jo Rogge is a nonbinary multidisciplinary artist working across the mediums of painting, printmaking, textiles and sculpture. Their creative work, expressed in a diverse collection of paintings, drawings, prints and objects is informed by an innate curiosity about the world and their reflection on its complexities and conflicts rendered in an intuitive language that attempts to decipher and deliberate over our emotional lives and experiences. Their work is a personal reflection on displacement, family lineage and identity. These works are also a conduit for probing fundamental beliefs about gender, body politics and sexuality using highly personal recurring symbols. Calling into question the dichotomous notions of gender and challenging heteronormative assumptions, they create a new crucible for queer voices while simultaneously posing uncomfortable questions about difference and belonging. In addition to their creative practice, having extensive experience in designing publications for various clients, notably UNICEF Namibia and ARASA, roots Rogge’s sensibility in a human rights milieu and manifests in their deliberate and considered placement of sometimes disparate elements to express their concern for the vagaries of our existence. This method of working is offset by their more expressive and emotionally- charged approach in other works. The idea of each work dictates the material used to express it. They have exhibited widely, locally and internationally. They are the founder of NJE Collective, which seeks to address the under-representation of female and marginalised artists from southern Africa through informal mentorship, and facilitating opportunities and resources. They have participated as a group in numerous art fairs since 2016. Going forward, the collective focuses on the work of queer artists to address the lack of representation of specifically queer narratives in mainstream galleries. They live and work between Namibia and South Africa.
Rogge, who will also be exhibiting, told VIBEZ! that it was pertinent to explore these historical links, in particular, an exhibition by the then Southwest Africa Arts Association (SWAAA) in Cape Town in 1948, and the archives of the Namibia Arts Heritage Trust, which provided the impetus to involve Namibian artists in a research-based project.
The other artists are;
- Maria Caley
- Stephane Conradie
- Actofel Ilovu
- Ju’/hoansi artists
- Tangeni Kambudu
- Maria Mbereshu
- Tuli Mekondjo
- Lynette Musukubili
- Ndako Nghipandulwa
- Rudolf Seibeb
“In collaboration with the Project Room Namibia, these artists were invited to select and research one of the artworks or artefacts held in the NAA collection and develop new work in response to the chosen historical work,” she noted.
According to Rogge, the artists were chosen based on their current output and creative processes, as well as their use of unconventional materials. “For example, the Ju’/hoansi artists, working with the Omba Arts Trust, were included based on the 1948 exhibition, which included the “‘Native’ section…described as being mostly handcrafts, including copies of rock paintings, amongst others, the White Lady of the Brandberg.”
Each artist has created an artwork in response to their research, with some surprising results. Established artists Mekondjo and Conradie, each with their accomplished research-based creative practices firmly rooted in their respective cultural and traditional backgrounds, have chosen objects from the collection on which to base their new work for this exhibition. “Interestingly, young emerging artists Nghipandulwa and Musukubili were inspired by the paintings of Themba Masala and Adolph Jentsch, respectively. Musukubili, who works with recycled plastic waste, says she was struck by the quietude and calm of Jentsch’s painting, and his ability to capture the endless vistas, unique light, and ambiance of Namibia’s expansive landscapes.”
SA-based artist Stephané Conradie was inspired by a painting by Andrew van Wyk. “I was drawn to Van Wyk’s idealisation of African life. In my research, I have tried to retrace the Rehoboth Basters’ migration to Namibia.
Glissant argues that for creole people, it is difficult to go back to and/or pinpoint the exact moment that cultural exchanges took place. For this reason, many creolised people do not have a full historical understanding of where they come from. My aim in researching the Rehoboth Basters’ migration is to try and envision like Van Wyk, an idealised world in which I could fit in.”
Caley, who was born in Rundu, was inspired to create this show by the nkata, which is the traditional pot’s base. Her focus is on the significance of this underappreciated item in rural women’s daily life.
About AVA
The Association for Visual Arts is a non-profit, membership-based arts organisation with the primary aim of advancing and promoting South African contemporary art and artists. The AVA Gallery is based in the heart of Cape Town, having occupied its current premises at 35 Church Street since 1971. It is the oldest non-profit art gallery in Cape Town. Here contemporary visual art production is promoted through regular exhibitions showcasing all media – from painting through to ceramics, photography, installations and performance – by established and emerging artists. In its choice of artists, the selection committee endeavours to promote the discursive and experimental nature of contemporary art. In doing this the AVA seeks to make important contributions to the ‘open texture’ of South Africa’s art community.
